Patrick Richard Lam was born in Auckland on 29 September 1968 and educated at St Peter's College. He captained New Zealand Secondary Schools and New Zealand Colts and played one, uncapped, match for the All Blacks against Sydney in 1992. However, his internationals at senior level were exclusively for Western Samoa, later Samoa, for whom he gained 36 caps in the back row and was captain in the Rugby World Cup tournaments of 1995 and 1999. He played for Auckland, the Blues, North Harbour and the Crusaders and in England for Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons. In 2000 he was captain of the Northampton team that won the European Cup. Pat Lam also captained the Barbarians against Wales in 2002.