Lam has high praise for Thais

Auckland, who have 15 national league titles under their belt, are visiting the country for a brief coaching and training camp, which is part of their preparation for the new season of the Air New Zealand Cup.

 After arriving in Bangkok on Saturday night, Auckland - boasting nine players who are in the All Blacks' ranks - have engaged in training and coaching sessions on the first two days of their tour.

Coach Lam's side got an opportunity to flex their muscles yesterday when they played a tune-up match against Thailand's SEA Games team at the country's top rugby school Vajiravudh, where they have been training during their stay in the capital.

The match had four sessions, with the first three played in the rugby-10 format and the last in rugby sevens.

With a quick glance at the sheer size of the visitors, it looked as if the game were clearly a big mismatch. Some in the crowd made a mockery of the size difference by saying that it was kids versus adults, while others were betting on how many seconds the Kiwis would take to score their first try.

That came barely 15 seconds into the game, with a section of the crowd erupting in joy as they had guessed correctly.  The Thai players appeared in complete awe of the visitors' physique. Their challenges had no impact on Auckland, whose tackles left many of them bruised and suffering from concussion.

But they somehow managed to effect a try from a rare foray following a strong run by lanky Sarayoot Thiengtrong.

The home team were able to score another try through Athawudt Thanakit in the second session, but by then the Kiwis had a commanding lead and were easing up a bit.

Although the Thai team were no match for his side, Lam praised their performance.

"The Thai players are very good. Lamzi [a Kiwi and Thai team co-coach] has done a good job in training them," he said.

"They compensated for what they lacked in size with determination. They at times showed they had a good understanding of the play in attack, and even managed to break up our moves. That is impressive," added Lam, who was equally pleased with Thailand's SEA Games women's team, who attended a rugby clinic the previous day.

Even though the game was a warm-up, Lam did not take it lightly and later criticised three players who he said should have done better in such a situation.

Today, the Kiwis move to the seaside town of Hua Hin for a two-day training stint before leaving for New Zealand.

Kitinan Sanguansak

The Nation