NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Rugby / All Blacks

Rugby: Sam Whitelock - Modern athlete old school player

Gregor Paul
By Gregor Paul
Rugby analyst·NZ Herald·
10 Aug, 2018 07:00 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Sam Whitelock. Photo / Photosport

Sam Whitelock. Photo / Photosport

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hopefully there will be more fuss made about Sam Whitelock's 100th cap next weekend than there was about his first.

No one has sneaked into the All Blacks with such invisibility. History doesn't actually have a record of Whitelock arriving in the All Blacks as he wasn't picked in the initial squad to play Ireland and Wales in June 2010.

There was no big moment for Whitelock before he won his first cap. There was no photo opportunity, no chance for media to ask his parents where they were when they heard and how they felt about another of their sons - big brother George had been capped the year before - making the All Blacks.

Instead, Whitelock was a footnote - a one line addition to say that he had joined the squad as injury cover for veteran lock Tom Donnelly.

It was only when he came off the bench in the first test of 2010 and scored two tries against Ireland that everyone actually realised he was in the All Blacks.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It was a peculiar state of affairs that he was celebrated after the fact so to speak: that he'd snuck in the back door only for everyone to realise that in the midst of the All Blacks was this 21-year-old lock with a bit of potential.

At that stage, only the All Blacks coaches really knew how much potential. Steve Hansen, who was at that time the All Blacks assistant coach, quietly said to keep an eye on Whitelock as he was going to be something special once he had a few caps behind him and a bit more heft on a beanpole frame that was only carrying 108kg.

It was an astute prediction as eight years on and Whitelock is not only on the verge of winning his 100th cap, he's captained the All Blacks four times, is probably the skipper-elect post 2019 and has an undeniable claim to be considered one of the best locks to ever play for New Zealand.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The understated introduction to test football is incongruous with the career he has enjoyed and the player he has become, but is fitting with the sort of person he is.

Whitelock always appeared to be suitably embarrassed to have scored two tries on debut.

That's not the sort of thing a lock does and he presumably worried that he'd cast entirely the wrong impression.

He'd played his rookie Super Rugby campaign that year alongside Brad Thorn at the Crusaders and the raspy-voiced veteran would have passed on a few thoughts about general dos and don'ts and expectations.

Discover more

Editorial

Editorial: Hansen knows when to swing axe

10 Aug 05:00 PM
Rugby

Wynne Gray: Mo'unga brings more firepower at 10

09 Aug 05:00 PM
Sport|rugby

Meet rugby's six-million dollar man

10 Aug 01:51 AM
Sport|rugby

Women's rugby growing faster than men's game in NZ

10 Aug 04:04 AM
Sam Whitelock: a traditionalist in the modern game. Photo / Photosport
Sam Whitelock: a traditionalist in the modern game. Photo / Photosport

Sensible hair cut, black boots, hard work, scrummaging, cleaning out and winning lineout ball would all have been on the approved list. Scoring tries and/or becoming renowned for scoring tries would have been warned against.

However Whitelock played on debut, he can be rest assured that it hasn't been the game on which opinions have been formed.

Those two tries are 40 per cent of the total he's scored in tests and the Blues are more likely to be crowned Super Rugby champions than Whitelock is to be branded as flamboyant, showy or flighty.

His success has been built on his relentless desire to improve and that desire to keep working was as much as anything else, the reason Hansen predicted great things for Whitelock back in 2010.

He could sense there was a fire in Whitelock. A fire that would see the big lock respond in all the right ways to overcome all the inevitable challenges that would lie between him and greatness.

In 2012 Whitelock was dropped midway through the Rugby Championship.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hansen felt Whitelock had become one-paced, passive rather than aggressive. It stung Whitelock to lose his place and have the world know why, but when he was put back in the team two tests later, his performance in South Africa was dynamic and explosive.

Whitelock is not a sulker or hindered by any sense of entitlement and that's why he's been able to put 14kg on since his debut.

That in itself is the best proof of his work ethic - that increase has come about due to literally thousands of hours in the gym and dedication to a nutrition plan.

That size he's developed, he's used to improve all his core offerings. He's the best in the world at receiving kick offs. He'd have to be one of the best lineout poachers and that hiccup in 2012 has driven him to be a better ball carrier.

He is the ultra modern athlete applying himself in the most traditional way and from being a footnote who no one really knew was there, Whitelock has become one of the most respected, trusted and admired players of the modern age.

It's fitting that he'll make history in Sydney as if there is one nation that has felt the full brunt of Whitelock's force it is Australia.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The difference between the All Blacks and Wallabies for much of the last decade has been in their respective tight fives and the Wallabies have craved a lock of Whitelock's calibre.

So many times over the last eight years it has been the superior grunt work and ball skills of Whitelock and his fellow lock Brodie Retallick that have stood out as the winning factor.

The Wallabies have never had a similar rock - never had an equally powerful and skilled athlete providing both stability and continuity in the same way as Whitelock.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from All Blacks

All Blacks

‘Shown their class’: Robertson backs All Blacks rookies for French debut

03 Jul 01:00 AM
All Blacks

Four debutants as Robertson names first All Blacks team of 2025

02 Jul 11:34 PM
All Blacks

All Blacks v France: All you need to know

02 Jul 07:32 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from All Blacks

‘Shown their class’: Robertson backs All Blacks rookies for French debut

‘Shown their class’: Robertson backs All Blacks rookies for French debut

03 Jul 01:00 AM

'This is a huge moment for these men and their families.'

Four debutants as Robertson names first All Blacks team of 2025

Four debutants as Robertson names first All Blacks team of 2025

02 Jul 11:34 PM
All Blacks v France: All you need to know

All Blacks v France: All you need to know

02 Jul 07:32 PM
Premium
How Robertson plans to tackle year two with the All Blacks

How Robertson plans to tackle year two with the All Blacks

02 Jul 06:01 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP