Former All Black outside back and current North Harbour assistant coach Jeff Wilson will join the Blues as a skills coach for the 2012 Super Rugby season.

Wilson, who was an incisive runner with great handling skills in his playing days, has also been coaching the Blues' development side along with former prop Nick White on top of his role with North Harbour and will retain those two positions as well as adding Blues' skills coach to his portfolio.

It will interesting to see what sort of impact Wilson will have on the talented Blues backline which will include the likes of Ma'a Nonu, Rene Ranger, Piri Weepu, Isaia Toeava and Benson Stanley.

Blues head coach Pat Lam said that this was the next logical step for Wilson as he has come through the ranks as a coach within the Blues system and explained that his considerable experience will add plenty of value for the Blues coaching staff.

"We wanted someone to co-ordinate our skills programme. Jeff is a perfect fit for us - his reputation for high standards and values as a player and now a skills coach is superb, and he will fit well into our environment," said Lam. "He's from within our franchise and considering his role with the Blues' development side, this is a natural progression for him.

Wilson is looking forward to teaming up with Lam and his assitant Bryce Woodward in January.

He commented: "Coaching the development team with Nick has included input from Pat and Bryce. Now to take that up another level by working closely with them and the players is a challenge I’m really looking forward to."