Pat Lam drops All Blacks truth bomb as New Zealand Rugby need a ‘reality check’
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and former Blues boss Pat Lam.
Former Blues boss Pat Lam has given his honest assessment of the state of the All Blacks and reckons New Zealand Rugby (NZR) are not accepting the reality of their position.
Over the past few years, New Zealand have not been the dominant force in the world game and have found themselves making plenty of unwanted history.
Both Scott Robertson and his predecessor, Ian Foster, have overseen some abysmal results since 2019, but Lam is wondering whether there has been enough accountability from the governing body.
To be the best, the current Bristol Bears director of rugby believes that NZR need to understand that they are currently playing catch-up and must adapt accordingly.
‘South Africa is clearly the best’
“Obviously, in New Zealand there are high standards but there needs to be a reality check,” he told DSPN with Martin Devlin.
“New Zealand’s biggest advantage now is they’re not the best in the world, they all understand they’re not the best in the world.
“South Africa is clearly the best team in the world, but the advantage that all the other teams have – the reason they’ve climbed – is because New Zealand’s always been the best, so everyone’s had to get innovative trying to improve.
“Not just from the public but I look at some of the things I’m hearing from the New Zealand Rugby Union, I believe that the behaviour has got to show that we are not the best.
“So, how do we become the best and make decisions to become the best?”
As Lam stated, the All Blacks have tended to be the leading team and therefore at the forefront of innovation, but that is now not the case.
Other sides have caught up and, in South Africa’s case, convincingly overtaken them, with their head coach, Rassie Erasmus, considered one of the game’s best thinkers.
There has often been a rather narrow-minded outlook from New Zealand in regards to rugby and the Bristol boss insists that needs to change.
No knowledge of other players
“I remember when the England team came down [last year] and I think Sevu Reece and Rieko Ioane were asked about Tommy Freeman and Manny Feyi-Waboso – they were like, ‘who?’ They didn’t know who they were,” Lam said.
“It was the same when Mils [Muliaina] came up to Connacht, he didn’t know anyone up there, and then they quickly get up there and go, ‘geez, there’s some good players up here’, 100 per cent.
“In New Zealand, we’re in our world and we’re like, ‘this is the best, we expect the best, why aren’t we winning?’
“The public are going to be the public, that’s their expectation, but when I look at the New Zealand Rugby Union, they’ve got to realise.
“If you come from a position of, ‘we’re not the best, we need to be the best’ and make decisions accordingly, it can be our advantage, New Zealand’s advantage.”
READ MORE: Sonny Bill Williams issues Super Rugby plea to South Africa who are ‘playing hard to get’