All Blacks: Up where I belong, says Thomson

Adam Thomson, and his Highlanders' teammate Tom Donnelley will be a force in the lineout against the Wallabies tonight. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A day after being handed the ultimate compliment by his coach Graham Henry, All Blacks flanker Adam Thomson finally feels he belongs in the black jersey.

It took a while for the 12-test loose forward, who Henry described as "the most improved player in New Zealand first-class rugby".

After an unhappy night in the defeat to France in Dunedin in June, Thomson looked to have been trumped on the blindside flank by Jerome Kaino who produced several strong efforts. He bided his time, finally got his chance off the bench against the Springboks in Hamilton then earned just his second test start of the year as the All Blacks demolished the Wallabies 33-6 in Wellington.

Sure enough he retained his spot ahead of Kaino for tonight's test against the Wallabies here, moving Henry to make his lofty statement.

"It's just about being more comfortable with where I am. When you go to a new level things happen a lot faster and you're playing against world class players in most positions," Thomson said. "It took a while to find my feet and know what I had to do to perform at that level."

So the Wallabies forwards discovered in Wellington when Thomson, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read smashed them at the breakdown for a clear points victory. It was a good few days for the southern men in Tokyo, with Thomson's Highlanders teammate Tom Donnelly also retained after his efforts on debut in Wellington. Like Thomson, at 27 one year his junior, Donnelly had season after season wondering if he was ready for test rugby.

This time last year it seemed a forlorn hope, but injuries to Ali Williams and Anthony Boric gave him a chance.

"I thought I was knocking at the wrong house for a while there. At the start of the year I decided I had to stop worrying about it. I was worrying too much about things I couldn't control," Donnelly said. "I thought if it happens, it happens. I just got on with footy and started to enjoy it more and my consistency has been a bit better since then."

Adding to the enjoyment is making the starting side with his good mate Thomson. They push each other along at training and will be tasked with the majority of the lineout work tonight.

The formula was simple for Donnelly to make the step up after he finished this year's Super 14.

"Every facet of the game you had to be switched on. Playing NPC and maybe Super 14 you can cruise a little bit and go through the motions.

"If you do that here you're out of the game and it'll cost you. If you're not in the right place at the right time you can just run around like a headless chicken."

- NZPA