100 Greatest All Blacks: Brodie Retallick

At 2.04m and 117kgs, Brodie Retallick is a formidable sight. His progress since being picked as an All Black in his debut Super rugby season has been equally impressive.

The tight forward has a motor which must have impressed his skipper Richie McCaw who knows everything there is about running himself to a standstill. Retallick is a similar man in motion with his enormous appetite for work.

He got his international call up soon after his 21st birthday and while the idea was to blood him slowly, injuries pushed Retallick into the frontline a lot more and he has already peeled off more than 20 tests.

Normally he jumps in the front of the lineout where his size and spring deliver a dependable ball supply while his scrimmaging work is improving as he fills out even more.

Away from his tight work, Retallick devours the ground as he did to follow up a break from Beauden Barrett to score a fine try against the Springboks last year at Eden Park.

It's hard to believe Retallick had to go round the traps to make an impression once he left school. He had time in Hawkes Bay, Bay of Plenty and made the NZ under 20 side who won the World Cup in Italy.

There was some doubt whether the Chiefs had picked the wrong Retallick when he was picked in their squad for the 2012 series.

It did not take long to get the answer. Retallick was such a key part of their historic series triumph, he had to be promoted to the All Blacks especially as Ali Williams was fading fast.

Since his debut against Ireland, Retallick has looked settled and his duels with another youngster, Bok lock Eben Etzebeth, look to be the start of a lengthy rivalry.

Statistics
Date of birth: 31 May 1991
Position: Lock
Matches: 24
Tests: 24
Test debut: 9 June 2012 v Ireland at Auckland
Province: Waikato
Franchise: Chiefs
Test tries: 1
Test points: 5