Brodie Retallick of the All Blacks poses for a headshot during the New Zealand All Blacks headshots session at The Spencer on Byron Hotel in Auckland. Photo / Getty Images
Brodie Retallick of the All Blacks poses for a headshot during the New Zealand All Blacks headshots session at The Spencer on Byron Hotel in Auckland. Photo / Getty Images
The All Blacks will be the most experienced team at this Rugby World Cup in terms of test caps, but Brodie Retallick, a player who seems to have been around for a decade, is, like the majority of the squad, about to attend one for the first time.
Lock Retallick,World Rugby's player of the year in 2014, has been a fixture in the pack since his debut in 2012 - playing in 41 tests around the world - but he is not sure what to expect over the next two months or so and neither do 17 of his colleagues.
"The only other real rugby tournament like this that I've been to is the Under-20s in Italy which was half the time of this World Cup, so it's new ground for a lot of the boys and it's something that we're looking forward to," he said.
"Not being there before, I don't really know what to expect and what the atmosphere is going to be like but at the same time it's exciting. We've got four pool matches to get through and hopefully we can move on from there but we've got to play some good rugby."
The 24-year-old's partnership with Sam Whitelock, with Luke Romano in reserve, is such that Steve Hansen and his coaches have opted to take only three locks.
Jerome Kaino and Victor Vito will be used as possible lock cover, their versatility allowing the All Blacks to take an extra loose forward - a traditionally injury-prone position - while allowing for extra speed on the bench. Retallick insisted he was happy with the potential extra workload and his ability to play through pain was probably one of the reasons Hansen decided to take only three specialist second-rowers.
