100 Greatest All Blacks: Josh Kronfeld

A harmonica-playing sculptor, a surfer who wore a nuclear-free symbol on his headgear, a physiotherapist who also works on television and the first major player to sign with the NZRU during the battle for signatures with the World Rugby Corporation.

Life is always full and never quite standard for Josh Kronfeld who began his 54 test career as one of the stars of the extraordinary 1995 World Cup campaign in South Africa.

His all action game was superb in that tournament as he scored tries against Ireland, Wales and England and became a key to the tourists' plans to unleash Jonah Lomu and their continuity game.

It was a potent recipe although Kronfeld felt the All Black plans were too inflexible and that a lack of variety cost them more than the debilitating food poisoning which hit the side two days before the final.

For lunch that day, Kronfeld did not like the look of chicken and chose beef instead. Ten of his starting colleagues chose the white meat and succumbed to salmonella which left them weak and lacking energy for the final.

Kronfeld starred in the tournament and despite injuries, stayed near the top of his craft as a regular starter even though he was not the most ardent admirer of coach John Hart methods or the playing and leadership merits of skipper Taine Randell.

Whether it was talking to himself as he imagined scenarios or jiggling his muscles, Kronfeld always danced to his own tunes in his rugby world. He was very effective, a predator in the pack who understood the laws and how to make the most of them.

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Statistics
Date of birth: 20 June 1971
Position: Openside flanker
Matches: 56
Tests: 54
Test debut: 22 April 1995 v Canada, Auckland
Final test: 19 August 2000 v South Africa, Johannesburg
Province: Otago
Franchise: Highlanders
Test tries: 14
Test points: 70