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Rising star hoping to learn ‘as much as I can’ from All Blacks greats
Test centurions Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock have formed a formidable partnership in the All Blacks’ second row for more than a decade. Both men will go down in history as all-time greats.
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But change is coming, whether All Blacks fans like it or not.
Following this year’s Rugby World Cup in France, the All Blacks will usher in a new era under incoming coach Scott Robertson.
The man known as Razor, who coached the Crusaders to their seventh title in as many years last weekend, will look to lead a new-look All Blacks side to gory.
From 2024, the All Blacks will most likely include a mix of fresh faces, rising stars and experienced campaigners – but the team won’t feature the seemingly irreplaceable second-row duo.
Among the players who will farewell the All Blacks after this year’s Rugby World Cup – including the likes of Aaron Smith and Dane Coles – both Retallick and Whitelock will call time on their Test careers.
Retallick will return to Kobelco Steelers in Japan, while Whitelock will join his younger brother Luke at French club Pau on a two-year deal.
Before All Blacks fans know it, the influence, experience and leadership of the world-class pair will longer take centre stage in the Test arena.
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With more than 240 Test caps between them, Retallick and Whitelock will be tough to replace – but the All Blacks have some exciting options at lock coming through the ranks.
Crusaders captain Scott Barrett would have to be considered a frontrunner for a starting jersey, while Chiefs star Tupou Vaa’i has also shown plenty of promise at Test level in the past.
But another option is Josh Lord.
Lord, who is the fifth tallest player in All Blacks history, has been recalled to the national team ahead of their Rugby Championship campaign.
After spending 11 months on the sidelines with a knee injury, Lord appears intent on adding to his two Test caps next month.
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But, importantly, the 22-year-old is eager to learn “as much as I can from” departing greats Retallick and Whitelock.
“I guess I’m just pretty excited to be back in there in the mix, playing with the best team in the world,” Lord told RugbyPass.
“I guess it’s always going to be pretty special when you’ve got the likes of Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock to learn a bit from them.
“I think this is going to be their last year in the All Blacks so I’m just going to take as much as I can from them and take it with me for the rest of my career.”
After spending almost a year on the sidelines, Lord was a bit of a surprise selection in the All Blacks’ 36-man squad for the Rugby Championship.
But amongst all the discussion and passionate debates surrounding the selection of five uncapped players in the initial squad, Lord’s inclusion seemed to fly under the radar.
The rising star was always destined for more Test match rugby after making his debut on the end-of-season tour in 2021, but injuries put those hopes and dreams on hold.
But with a Rugby World Cup just over two months away, Lord spoke about how “special” it was to hear his “name called out.”
“When you get the chance to work with some world-class players and some bloody good coaches, and hopefully push hard to play a few games and put my best foot forward really,” Lord added.
itely going to be special. There’s been a lot of hard work that’s gone into it from not just myself but the medical team as well as mates and family.
“It’s special to be able to share the journey along with them.”
The All Blacks begin their Rugby Championship campaign against Los Pumas in Mendoza, Argentina, early next month.
New Zealand will then return home to face rivals South Africa in Auckland before travelling across the ditch to play Eddie Jones’ Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The All Blacks leave for Argentina on Sunday.
Comments on RugbyPass
Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
6 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
6 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
6 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
6 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
6 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to comments