All Blacks selector Grant Fox has given credit to former team mate John Kirwan for the work he did in preparing the Blues for this season.
The Blues finished their 2016 campaign last night with a 34-28 victory over the Waratahs, leaving the franchise with a eight win, six loss record, their best super rugby record since 2011.
Speaking on RADIO LIVE'S Saturday sport show hosted by Brendan Telfer, Fox was quick to point to Kirwan’s effort in turning the franchise around.
"Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you come up again to identify what all the issues are and that is something certainly in my view that John Kirwan sorted out last year,” said Fox.
"They worked out what the big rocks were and started putting some things in place to smash them and Tana has got the benefit of some of that Intel.
"I'm not trying to take anything away from Tana but what we want to see is a further step up next year."
Fox also eluded to the downfall of Australian rugby this year giving a reason he believes is causing the level of competition to go down.
"They have allowed a rule where some of their best players can play overseas who meets a certain criteria, they can be selected to come back.
"You want your best talent playing in your backyard, that’s the rule we have and it's working well for us."
Click above to listen to full interview
Newshub.
