No honeymoon period for Lions
"Back in the day wingers were just fast guys who could score tries." Ben Lam
Some ‘‘props’’ were better than none.
All the same, the Wellington Lions didn’t return to work yesterday to find themselves being lavished with praise. Processes, rather than outcomes, are what coach Chris Gibbes puts store in and Sunday’s 60-14 win over Canterbury wasn’t about to change that.
‘‘So he gave us some props but he wasn’t geeing it up too much, talking about it too much,’’ Wellington fullback Ben Lam said.
‘‘He knows the importance of having to move on from that, because that could be a trap for us. Putting on 60 and then falling off [against Waikato on Saturday] would be the worst thing we could do.’’
Lam’s in a reasonable position to judge things. Best known as a sevens player, the Aucklander is in his sixth season of national provincial rugby and has played for the Blues and Hurricanes too.
He’s also ‘‘like an old man now’’.
‘‘I think the oldest guys [in the Lions] are me and Jules [Julian Savea], who are 26, 27. It’s a lot different having to be that older guy and more of a leader.’’
A wing by trade, Lam played second five-eighth at club level for Tawa this year and has been shuffled into that spot during the Lions’ campaign. But in more recent weeks he’s run at fullback, in the absence of Trent Renata.
An anterior cruciate ligament rupture ruled Lam out of last year’s Olympic Games sevens team and meant he arrived at the Hurricanes with some rehab work still to do. That contributed to his battle to break into the match-day 23 but, with Cory Jane gone now, the 26-year-old will be that much closer next year.
Jane was an example of how fullbacks tend to make the best wings these days and this time at 15 definitely won’t harm Lam’s Super Rugby hopes.
‘‘Back in the day wingers were just fast guys who could score tries,’’ said Lam.
‘‘But you look at the All Blacks now, especially guys like Izzy [Dagg], Nehe [MilnerSkudder], you’ve got to have all those skills.
‘‘Playing at fullback definitely helps with that high-ball work, that kicking work as well and the more than you have in your arsenal the better.’’
It’s a far cry from sevens, where fielding and launching kicks is a rarity. Lam enjoyed his five years playing for Gordon Tietjens in the shortened format, but has no regrets about being a fulltime 15s player now.
‘‘I’ve done my time, done all my running. I mean there’s only so many times you can go round the world and play those tournaments.’’
Hamilton is Wellington’s next destination, for Saturday’s clash with Waikato. Injured centre Wes Goosen (ribs) could be a candidate to make the Lions team, but Brad Shields (knee) and James Blackwell (shoulder) are still a few weeks away.
It’s games like Saturday’s that’ll help reveal if these Lions have the ruthless streak required get out of the secondtier championship and back up into the premiership.
‘‘Everyone understands where we are; we haven’t really won anything yet. The past few seasons for Wellington, whilst they’ve had the team, they haven’t really finished,’’ Lam said.
They’ll get more than props for sealing the deal this time.