Bryn Hall weighs in on Mike Blair's top coaching traits

Former Maori All Black halfback Bryn Hall has weighed in on what new All Blacks attack coach Mike Blair will add to Dave Rennie’s environment.

Blair will continue on as attack coach of Rennie’s Kobelco Kobe Steelers side until the end of the Japan Rugby League One season, before joining All Blacks camp ahead of the first Test against France in Christchurch.

The team’s new attack coach will be familiar to many, likely from his playing days with Scotland, where he made 84-Test appearances.

Blair is a former Scotland captain, a World Rugby Player of the Year nominee, a British and Irish Lion, before becoming a coach with the Glasgow Warriors, Scotland, and now the Kobe Steelers in Japan.

Speaking on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, which can also be found on RugbyPass TV, the former Maori All Black said that Blair’s ability to bring the best out of players is one of his biggest strengths.

“It’s the attention to detail that he does with those players. Bryn Galtand is there. You’ve got Anton Lienert-Brown, you’ve got Ardie Savea, and Brodie Retallick, who’s the top try scorer,” Hall said.

“But he’s very good around the players that he does have, he brings the best strengths out of them, which I think is a really important thing. I think with the All Blacks there’s a lot of quality with the players that we do have.

“If you look at probably Mike Blair and how he coaches that Kobe team, those players who they have there and their skill set, very good, and he’s able to bring the best out of them.

“So look, I know that’s the Japan level. It’s not international, but what I do enjoy seeing is Mike Blair and the players at Kobe who are very good around the players that he does have, he brings out the best attributes and that’s what they do very well.”

“The reason why he stayed with Rennie is he gets a lot of tries from turnover ball and counter attacks, but kick returns I think those are all the same.

“Because it’s an opportunity when you know defences aren’t organised. So again, he’s another coach that when you see a good attack, to me, you see a line break and you see 14 other guys accelerate, because if I don’t do this, if I don’t get in the picture, you won’t be on the field.

“When you watch the archive footage, and you watch Kobe, it is the Japanese top league, and I know it’s improving, I’m not saying Super Rugby is better or anything, but the points scored are a lot higher.

“But I do think the mindset when you watch Kobe, every player just is like, bang, there’s a line break, there’s a turnover, it’s like, everyone’s on edge, whereas the teams that I think struggle just go, let’s just secure the ball and maybe get the caterpillar going and kick whereas I just that’s not the mindset of Blair.

“He clearly is all out attack.”