Duty to jersey drives blindside flanker's desire to improve

Of all the messages uttered by Richie McCaw during his five years as All Blacks captain, there has been one Jerome Kaino has struggled to shake.

Having made his test debut against Ireland in 2006, Kaino, now 27, appeared poised to make the blindside flanker's jersey his own when Jerry Collins left New Zealand after the 2008 Super 14.

Sounds simple, but, in reality, it has been anything but.

American Samoa-born Kaino, who will earn his 29th cap against the Springboks at Westpac Stadium tomorrow night, has been forced to share his spot with the likes of Adam Thomson, Kieran Read and, briefly this year, Victor Vito.

"There is one big thing that Richie has spoken about that has stuck with me for a while. He says that when you are in the All Black jersey, or when you leave the All Black jersey, make sure it is in a better state [than] when you ... put it on.

"Throughout the years I have been an All Black, I don't think I have been able to do that. If I left today, I don't think the jersey would be in a better place than when I found it, so that is what has been driving me."

With Thomson dropped from the Tri-Nations squad, young buck Vito is shaping as a challenger, although Kaino knows if he plays as well as he did during last weekend's 32-12 win over the Springboks, he will earn another tick in forward coach Steve Hansen's notebook.

"Now there is the added expectation to exceed our performance at the weekend – especially myself, being renowned for being inconsistent."

Last year, Kaino earned Hansen's trust when he started in five of the opening Tri-Nations tests, although Thomson started in the final match against the Wallabies and backed up again in Japan, before Kaino was preferred for the majority of tests on the northern tour.

Kaino says criticism about his lack of consistency does not sting, because he knows it is true: "I probably know before anyone says it, that I have been inconsistent. It doesn't really hurt when you know what they are saying is right."

Better preparation, learning to cope with mistakes, and consulting with mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka have helped him cope with the demands he places on himself.

"It is just expecting what has to be done and visualising what the kick-off is going to be like and what you have to do. When you get out into the game, nothing is a big surprise to you; whatever happens you are not caught off guard."

Kaino also has reason to remember the first time he started against the Springboks, in Wellington two years ago, and again it was some sage advice from McCaw and several senior players that has remained with him after he was charged with drink-driving.

"A lot of life changes have been made. The coaches have a couple of words and a couple of the boys – Brad Thorn, Richie and Keven Mealamu. A lot of the leaders sort of sat back and said `okay, it was a bad mistake, and people make mistakes'.

"What they wanted to make sure was that it was a one-off, or are they going to see it again?"

- © Fairfax NZ News