KEY POINTS:
When you run the buzz about his injury past Keith Robinson he squints hard. Like you imagine he would look down the sights on his pig-hunting rifle. His eyes do not flicker and he spits the answer out.
"Left knee, no problem," he says, "coulda played two weeks
in a row. It's never going to be a hundy, it'll always be a bit sore but she's fine."
That done, Robinson expands by saying he played five matches for Waikato on the trot and reckoned he could have survived four tests in succession on this tour of Europe.
He had taken a full part in training and the "knee is not an issue".
Touring again, that was another matter. He had not been away with a rugby side for some time, for the past few years most nights were spent at home with his wife and daughters.
It had taken time to get used to being away from the comforts of home and being immersed in a huge travelling group of males.
For his next tour he would invest in a video camera so he could see and speak to his family back home.
"There are things you miss but things you enjoy as well on tour, seeing other parts of the world and playing in the black jersey," he said.
"We have trained smart and had a good balance over here. We have had a good look around without going too silly. We saw the sights in Paris that we wanted to see."
For Robinson that meant a visit to the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and strolling down the Champs Elysees.
"It was a pretty cruisey day really, I am not into the Louvre or museums and stuff, I just want to see a few sights."
Robinson has brought the country life with him, the uncomplicated approach which has been such a strength of his rugby. The Champs Elysees is referred to as the main street and he talks about the need to get out of the "motel" in Paris to keep a balanced life.
We get the drift as he explains that training and staying cooped up in a "motel" all tour would soon have the players pretty stale.
Unlike centre Conrad Smith, who felt his season was just starting after recovering from his broken leg and wanted to keep playing, Robinson was ready for a spell. His season had not ended prematurely.
"Not at all. Since the day I came back it has been pretty intense, it has been a whirlwind really and it will be pretty good just to sit back over Christmas and look at what I have done this year and start thinking about next year.
"I am not in the conditioning group so will be able to play in the Super 12 (sic) and stuff and get the body right."
Claiming the Air New Zealand Cup with Waikato, then returning to the All Blacks, was a huge weekend. He had been in a winning side against England, although on review he felt he could have improved his workrate in that match, and was determined to finish on a high against Wales.
It was incredibly important to finish the tour well, to deny Wales their first win in 53 years and to head to the summer break in a good frame of mind.
Robinson would call the lineouts at the Millennium Stadium where he and Ali Williams were back together for the first time since they made their test debuts at Twickenham in 2002.
The 29-year-old Robinson has also used his seniority to claim the tighthead locking position behind Carl Hayman.
There was a growing confidence from lineout coach Steve Hansen and the forwards that they were getting to grips with what had been a problem area for the All Blacks.
Some new techniques had helped and the results against England and twice against France had been encouraging. That had to persist for one more test this year.
"There are just little things you wouldn't notice but when you are doing it, you have to keep working on it and working on it before it becomes second nature," Robinson said of Hansen's pre-tour claim that his lineout forwards would have to changes their habits of a lifetime.
