Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ

'To be fair, I don't know a lot about him': Retallick on new All Blacks teammate

By Sam Smith
(Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

In the All Blacks search for solutions to their faltering lineout after a disappointing end to the Rugby Championship, they have called upon 20-year-old uncapped lock Josh Lord to join the side for their Northern tour.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Chiefs-product has just five Super Rugby caps along with 18 appearances for his provincial side Taranaki, but standing at 2.02m offers some tall timber for the All Blacks’ hookers to throw at.

Although the side will be bolstered by the return of the experienced Sam Whitelock, with Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu heading back to New Zealand the squad needed another lock to join Brodie Retallick and Tupou Vaa’i.

Video Spacer

What the All Blacks should expect from USA | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

Video Spacer

What the All Blacks should expect from USA | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

Despite having three Chiefs locks in the squad, Brodie Retallick admitted that he ‘didn’t know a lot’ about Josh Lord as the second rower made his way into the Super side at a time when Retallick was offshore in Japan.

“To be fair, I don’t know a lot about him,” Retallick told media earlier this week.

“I actually haven’t met him at all. I saw the games that he played for the Chiefs on the TV, but I’ve heard that he’s a big rig and he can get around.

“He’s strong and powerful and has a good skill set, so it’s a great opportunity for someone like him, at his age, to come in and put his foot in the door and make a mark. I’m sure he’s hugely excited to join the team at the end of the week.”

Retallick may end up packing down a scrum with Lord in the coming weeks depending on how Ian Foster wants to configure his team throughout the November tour where the All Blacks will play five tests against USA, Wales, Ireland, Italy and France.

ADVERTISEMENT

The opening game against a weakened USA side may be a chance for Lord to make his debut, particularly if the coaching staff decide to send either one of Retallick or Whitelock up to Europe early as part of a small group of All Blacks heading up there before the American match.

At this stage, Retallick said no one knows who is in the early departure group and the side is going about preparations for the USA as usual.

“No, we’ve got no idea at the moment. We just know we’re departing the hotel at 4am on Sunday morning, at this stage,” he said.

Foster earlier indicated the selection of Lord was based on his form in Super Rugby and his potential as a prospect in the future when the squad was initially named, while also hinting that the Chiefs other young lock Tupou Vaa’i is in line to receive an expanded role with ‘significant game time’ on the tour.

“He’s very athletic and we saw this as an opportunity to grow a young player for the future,” Foster said of Lord.

“He’s got the physical attributes that we think are right, and it’s a chance to get him on this tour and start working with him.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We saw Tupou come in quickly last year, and he dealt with a starting role in a Bledisloe Cup game under a lot of pressure. Whenever we put him on the park, we felt he performed well, and he’s continued to do that and impress us.

“We see this tour as a chance for him to get some significant game time and have a big role,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

Rugby Europe Men's Championship Final | Georgia v Portugal | Full Match Replay

Japan Rugby League One | Verblitz v Sungoliath | Full Match Replay

Stronger Than You Think | S2 Ep 2 | Lola Lovinfosse

Boks Office | Episode 9 | Six Nations Round 4 Review

Beyond 80 | Episode 4

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | Who can truly be called the best rugby side in the world

Justin Marshall | The Big Jim Show | Full Episode

Sevens Challenger Montevideo - Day 3

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

M
Mzilikazi 16 minutes ago
How England reverse-engineered unlikely attacking change

Thanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.

41 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Richard Cockerill: 'We're probably too good for this tournament' Richard Cockerill: 'We're probably too good for this tournament'
Search