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The Super Rugby final will see Retallick's rugby journey come full circle
Born and raised in North Canterbury, Brodie Retallick will face the team he grew up watching and the team he has faced the most in his storied Super Rugby career come Saturday’s final.
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All roads to the Super Rugby trophy go through the Crusaders, it was the case in Retallick’s debut season with the Chiefs and is again true this season.
Retallick will square off with Sam Whitelock, who he holds the record for most experienced locking partnership at the international level with, for the final time before the two conclude their New Zealand careers side by side at the Rugby World Cup in France.
“He’s always a competitor,” Retallick told Stuff. “And he’s been around so long, because of his skillset and how good he is at doing it.
“Obviously we’ve played a lot of test matches together, but it won’t mean much come Saturday, that’s for sure.”
Since his Chiefs debut in 2012, Retallick has had a simple message in mind, one emphasised by then coach Dave Rennie: “Winning every one-on-one battle.
“And I guess that’s what rugby’s all about, eh. So from those early years that was the message – don’t lose a one-on-one battle, and that’s just the way it was.”
That mentality saw the big lock debut for the All Blacks just months after debuting for the Chiefs and only a year removed from a U20 World Rugby championship win, a rare collection of accomplishments for a 12-month span.
Now a centurion for both club and country, Retallick is hoping to hear Waikato’s cowbell chorus soundtrack another Super Rugby title win – as they did in 2011 and 2012 – before he returns to the Kobe Kobelco Steelers in 2024.
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“Last week it kind of dawned for me, if we lost that was it, I started to pack up a little bit.
“What better way to play your last game in a final at home? And hopefully, the result takes care of itself. But it’s awesome to be here, it’s been a long time since I’ve played in a Super Rugby final.
“Obviously we’ve been successful on the field, but I think a lot of that comes from what we’re doing off the field, we’ve got a great group of guys. So it’d be good to convert the two, have a good bunch of guys in a good environment, and also get the result.”
The Chiefs will put in a performance inspired by Retallick’s legacy and inspired to give the All Black the dream send-off he deserves.
Regardless of the result, when Retallick boards that flight for Japan, he’ll leave knowing that the Chiefs are in safe hands. Young All Blacks Tupou Vaa’i and Josh Lord will assume the locking partnership and embark on their own journey, hoping for it to be as fruitful as their mentor’s.
“I guess from where I was when I first walked in the door to now is probably a world apart,” Retallick said. “As you get older you learn some life lessons and experiences, I had a family since then, and I guess with confidence and time in the saddle, you grow.
“It’s provided me so many experiences. A lot of stuff that people don’t get the chance to do, I’ve been lucky enough to do.
“I’ll enjoy the memories.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Can’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
11 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
11 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
81 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
81 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
5 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to comments