KEY POINTS:
AIX EN PROVENCE - You might be surprised to learn what number is running through Doug Howlett's mind in the Murrayfield dressing room before the All Blacks face Scotland this weekend.
It won't be the 47, the record number of New Zealand test tries he will reach if he can snare one more, inching clear of the great Christian Cullen.
And it won't be three, the number of months remaining before he breaks his decade-long ties with New Zealand first class rugby and starts a new life in Ireland.
Instead try 14, and not because it's the jersey number he's worn with distinction so many times for Auckland, the Blues and the All Blacks and - very soon - Munster.
Howlett will seek something that on the surface sounds simple enough - 14 touches of the ball.
That target could change depending on how play unfolds in the pool match at Edinburgh but one thing can be guaranteed, Howlett will be desperate to get involved.
Wing is the glamour position in a rugby team and the chiselled features of Howlett have certainly attracted a fair share of admirers over the years, yet talking to this earnest man who turns 29 on Friday it becomes clear that a show pony he is not.
Certainly, tries aren't the best way to measure the quality of a winger, at least not in the eyes of the ultra-professional Howlett.
"Personally just work rate really. If I can get as many touches on the ball as I can, that's what I'm looking for each game," he says, explaining that the goal is about seven in each half.
"Decent touches as well, doing something with the ball as opposed to just a straight pass on.
"Just being in a position where you can get the ball."
It's hardly colourful stuff for a man who this year reached a competition record 59 tries in Super rugby and who now stands poised to surpass the esteemed test mark of Cullen.
Howlett made his provincial debut while still at Auckland Grammar, where he had been an athletics star capable of running 100m in 10.8 seconds. He was the youngest player to appear in Super 12 rugby, aged 18.
Since his test debut against Tonga in 2000, Howlett has gradually dissected the winger's game into compartments - fundamentals like chasing, kicking, tackling and, of course, finishing. They all come under the sub-heading `work rate' and he has tried to master each.
"It's more of a track I'm trying to carve myself really," he said of a method that flies in the face of the lazy winger stereotype.
The early inspiration was Tana Umaga, at that stage of his career on the wing for Wellington and the All Blacks.
`He was just an all-action winger ... he was all over the field," Howlett recalls.
"That's when I came into the All Blacks and that's how I wanted to play the game. Over the years I've just tried to develop that technique really."
Howlett never had the flair of Jeff Wilson or the force of Jonah Lomu, his early-career rival wingers, nor the speed and outrageous skills of contemporary teammates Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Yet he appears to have busted his way back into the top team at this World Cup, with coach Graham Henry recently admitting that the curly-headed flyer was playing the best rugby of his life.
It seems a relaxed attitude is behind the form.
He and wife Monique had their first child Charles in July, a momentous time for Howlett who has for some time run a charitable trust to help disadvantaged children.
Since then his game has barely faltered, most recently snaring a second test hat-trick, against Italy in Marseille two weeks ago.
"I've just gone about my business this year. I haven't worried or stressed too much about selections," he says.
"I've made a point of enjoying my rugby."
He was taken aback earlier this year not to be included in Henry's conditioning group, believing he could have used that time to increase his speed and strength.
"It was quite tough to swallow but as it was, it's worked out reasonably well.
"I turned it round and made the most of the six or so games that I had (for the Blues) before the All Blacks came back."
Howlett reckons he would be "pretty close" to the track speed of his teens but hasn't timed a 100m run for a long time to verify it.
Given his attitude to fitness and high performance, it's hard to imagine him easing off during his 2-1/2 year stint at Munster which starts on January 1.
Lifestyle and environment were the key attractions of Ireland, a country he has enjoyed on every visit.
He will be 31 when he finishes in mid-2010 but a return to New Zealand to fight for a place in the World Cup team a year later is far from his mind.
"I haven't given it much thought. I'll never say never but at this stage I'll just look to enjoy my time in Europe and see what comes after that."
Mother Phoebe will be in France for the closing stages of the World Cup but father Simon can't make it because of work commitments.
It won't distract Howlett, who will be hoping to end his tenure on the ultimate high.
"It's certainly been a bit of a roller-coaster with selections and winning and losing. It's been a fantastic journey really."
- NZPA
