-
Pause to ponder: Sione Lauaki - Source: Photosport -
Related
He remains the biggest enigma in New Zealand rugby but his newfound leadership role at the Chiefs promises to put Sione Lauaki's inconsistencies of past to bed, reports tvnz.co.nz's Chris Matthews.
Sione Lauaki was as surprised as anyone when Ian Foster pulled him aside at pre-season training and told him that he will be the captaining the Chiefs for the first four games of the Super 14 season.
"He (Ian Foster) took me aside and we talked about it and then we announced it to the team the next day," Lauaki told tvnz.co.nz.
"I kind of was a bit shocked at first but it's a great honour and privilege to get the opportunity.
"I know Mils (Muliaina) is the long term captain but I'm excited about the short time I get to lead the team."
Excited he may be, but Waikato captain Liam Messam seemed the obvious choice to command last year's finalists in the initial stages, as All Black custodian Muliaina takes his enforced break.
However Foster might just be taking a calculated gamble in trumping for the powerful 120 kilogram number eight forward.
He knows that the 17-Test All Black, at his best, is a rare talent that can bust open a game like few others, and by entrusting him with responsibility, may in turn bring consistency.
The 28-year-old though, like Muliaina, is a quiet achiever and he is adamant that it will be his actions and not his words that will inspire his team.
"I just want to make sure I'm doing my job to the best of my ability and making sure everyone is humming when they play," Lauaki says.
"I want to lead by example but I know there are a lot of quality leaders in the team that can also help me.
"So in saying that I'm not going to change anything, the foundations have already been built at the Chiefs, so I guess it's just carrying on what me, Mils and the leadership group has already built in the past few years."
The leadership group of Muliaina, Messam, Richard Kahui and Bay of Plenty captain Colin Bourke provides Lauaki with a mix of quality performers and indeed the latter is pushing hard for his number eight jersey.
But with essentially the same squad as last year and with competition for places at an all time high for the rejuvenated franchise, the Chiefs are looking to put the demons of the 61-17 spanking by the Bulls in the 2009 Super 14 final to bed.
"It's something (the final) that I know still hurts a lot of guys inside, but in saying that, the boys are building up for that opportunity again," he says.
The Chiefs are notoriously bad starters; last year they dropped their first three matches before charging into the final and 2010 introductions promise to be just as tough.
Lauaki begins his leadership career with a demanding three-week road trip to Africa and Perth against the Sharks, Lions, and Force before getting one home game in charge against the Queensland Reds.
It shapes as a watershed month in Lauaki's career and if Foster's punt was right, the best of the runaway train aka Sione Lauaki may be still to come.
