Yahoo!Xtra Sunday Grill: Shane Howarth

Getty Images ©

Shane Howarth is the latest ex-All Black to join the world of full-time professional coaching. And his debut season as assistant coach to fellow ex-AB Pat Lam with the Blues has thrown up no shortage of on and off-field challenges.

Q: Firstly Shane, how are you enjoying your first year as a full-time coach in the Super 14?

A: I am loving it. It was a bit daunting when you first come in, because obviously Air New Zealand Cup is a level below Super 14. So sometimes you think, 'Shucks, what am I getting myself in for?'. But at the end of the day, people believe in you, you back yourself and I have just progressed through the whole year thinking I have garnered so much information and learnt a lot from other people. I am thoroughly enjoying it, loving it.

Q: In terms of the challenge itself for yourself and Pat Lam, it can't have been the easiest coming into a team which had lost a hell of a lot of experience?

A: I am very lucky with Pat in that we have a very strong relationship. We have known each other since we were 12 years old; there is a lot of trust and honesty there. It always feels good when you have got someone with you who you can feel comfortable with. And I think for the both of us when we came we felt very comfortable. You learn and we have learnt a lot, particularly myself. When you analyse other teams, look at other teams, you are just looking at internationals. In the Air New Zealand Cup you probably get two or three in a team, maybe every fortnight. But here it is every week, it doesn't matter who you play they have internationals in there. And it is really great because you have to wrack your brain to find ways of how to attack them and how to defend them. To me, that has been the enjoyment. And also with the calibre of player you have in your own team, you have to make sure you keep things short, sharp, intense and keep their minds ticking over.

Q: How does it differ being able to pretty much coach these guys every day?

A: Auckland last year, it was pretty disappointing to leave it that way. They are a young side and I think that side is going to come right. We had it 2004, it is funny we had it in our first year and last year. But I thoroughly enjoyed that, it was my first stint as head coach. And I loved it, I absolutely loved it. We were probably one silly game away from making the semis, but that is life and rugby. It really prepped me for coming up to this level, taking on that responsibility.

Q: Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper in particular has tackled the issue of travel demands in the Super 14? From your perspective, in your first season in the coaching environment, do you share some of those concerns?

A: Yeah. When you look at it from the outside you think, 'What are they moaning about?'. But I feel for the African teams, I really do. The Stormers, it feels like they have been on tour for two months. We were lucky when we travelled that we only had the two games in Africa. But we had Perth as well, so we were away for a month. Yeah it does have an affect, of course it does. How can you get over it? I think the selections they have at the moment are the only solutions they can do, unless they go to the conferences where there is less travel. So when you travel, you travel in a three or four week stint. Teams can do that. With the African teams, some of them are on tour for five or six weeks; that is a heck of a long time. I am no rocket scientist to figure out how you can work it, but I do think the conference system is a bit better. Playing in your own grade and maybe only doing that one short travel stint might be the way around it.

Q: There has been a lot of concentration on the injuries you have had in the Blues so far this season. But how impressed are you with some of the younger players who have clearly stepped up?

A: Pat and I have always been of the opinion in terms of injury, 'So what'. We picked a squad of 28 because we believed in them and I think it has shown. When you get guys like Charlie Faumuina, Tevita Mailau, Tom McCartney, Chris Lowrey, Michael Hobbs and guys like that stepping up, it is great. Did we want to get them in as quickly as that? Probably not. But we selected in them because we believed they could. We have been bloody pleased for them and it has been good for them. The little form slump we had wasn't down to injuries, it was down to how we weren't adapting and weren't playing the game we wanted to play. It was a shift in attitude.

Q: Off the field you have had issues with another player, wing Rene Ranger. Is there any way of lessening the risk of players getting in trouble while in public?

A: You can do so much, but in terms of the person, you can't hold on to them for 24 hours a day. Probably the biggest disappointment was that 'Nela (Taniela Moa) had happened just recently, then we get another incident. We have a big talk now and (asking) is it soaking in, are we saying the right messages? Really, it is their choice. What you do regardless of where you are, when you are not in our environment you ARE a Blues player. So what you do reflects of us. So you get 85 percent of the squad bloody great, everything is good, then you get that 10 or 15 (percent), one or two guys that do something wrong. And it reflects on the whole squad. It has been well ramped home this week that one silly little incident impacts on 50 or 60 people. And that is the best you can do. You just have to back that sooner or later it will sink in, that they will walk away. And they are going to get targeted, that is life when you go out. You just have to learn to be bigger than that.

Q: Is it more common than in your day? Or is this a case that the media jumps at it a bit more?

A: I don't think the world was as instantaneous back then as it is now. Now, one indiscretion and the world knows about it. I can't be naive and say stuff didn't happen back when we were playing. But you adapt and you are responsible. We had a good culture in teams that I was in, that you drag each other out if something happened. But again, these have been away from your mates within the team. Then it becomes individual responsibility. You just have to walk away.