Blair is now coaching some of the illustrious backs of their generation – Jordie Barrett, Beauden Barrett, Will Jordan, Damian McKenzie among others. All iconic All Blacks and all, he says, fully aware of the threat Scotland pose these days.
It’s not lip service, it’s proper respect. “You know, it might have been a different thing if it had been 15 years ago, when I was playing. I’ve spoken to the guys about Scotland and New Zealand games in recent years and each player I’ve spoken to said, ‘Geez, that was a hell of a game’.
“The respect for Scotland’s attacking game is huge. Previously, when I played, there’s an interview, and I can’t remember who it was [an All Black], but they basically couldn’t name any of the Scotland players. Now you speak to Jordie and he’s naming everyone in the Scotland backline.”
That contest will be seismic, as is Blair’s own story. “I went straight from finishing in Japan [he coached alongside Rennie in Kobe for three years] on 14 June to starting the job with New Zealand on 17 June. It’s been non-stop from there. Eye-opening. Different. Challenging. And a lot of fun as well.”
Blair and Rennie are tight, of course. They worked together when the Kiwi was at Glasgow Warriors and renewed their partnership in Japan. Blair had coached Edinburgh before all of that and left his position early, unsure of what life had in store for him. It’s been a wild ride since then.
Rennie is his mentor and his champion. “He’s good company. He’s got lots of stories. The way he manages is not suffocating. He offers opinion when he feels that it’s necessary, but otherwise he trusts you to do a job because he’s chosen you for a reason.
“He’d spoken to me in Japan and said he was asked to apply for the New Zealand job. So he’d asked me at that stage, would it be something that I was interested in – and I said, yes.
“I was actually back in Edinburgh and it was the middle of the night when they decided who was going to be the head coach. I woke up at seven in the morning, checked my phone and saw that Rens had got the job.
“And then I didn’t hear from him. I’d messaged and said, ‘Awesome, well done’ and then kind of waited for him to say, ‘We’ll have to sort your contract out’, but there was a day’s pause because it was difficult with the time difference. There’s a pause and I was like, ‘We are going to sort this out…’ I was hanging in the balance a little bit.”
Clearly, Rennie has had an enormous influence on Blair. “He makes you feel really confident about what you do. Like, I questioned if this would be something I’d be able to add value to. I had those thoughts and Dave knew I had those thoughts. He reassured me.
“He stuck his neck out for me – and he wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t believe that I’d do a good job. Dave’s head’s on the line here and he’s chosen me to do that job. I trust him as a rugby man and so I’ve got to trust the fact that he’s chosen me.”
