By CHRIS RATTUE
Tighthead prop
Age: 25
Height: 1.87m
Weight: 115kg
NPC: Canterbury
Super 12: Crusaders
Super 12 games: 61
Test debut: 2000
Test caps: 28
Somerville, like his propping mate Dave Hewett, was dropped on us out of the blue when Canterbury took on Waikato in a NPC semifinal five years ago.
Robbie Deans managed to keep it a secret
all week, and out waddled Somerville, a strangely shaped figure known as Yoda, after the Star Wars character, for his first start in Red and Black.
Hewett was a complete mystery to most that afternoon. A few characters with their ear close to the ground, however, whispered that national Colt Somerville was destined for the top, that the farm boy from Hawkes Bay - who plays minus a big toe lost in a childhood accident - was held in high regard in the quiet corners of front row knowledge.
There is a pretty clear pattern to the Somerville game. He doesn't figure highly in carrying the ball forward, but is extremely efficient elsewhere with a high workrate.
In terms of scrummaging, he is likely to stay down in the battle longer than Kees Meeuws, who is more dominant with the ball in hand and a test try-scoring freak.
Somerville also has tremendous agility for a prop in defending around the fringes - against France in Christchurch this year he topped the All Blacks' tackle count.
It's an option of styles for Mitchell, who will probably prefer to inject Meeuws into the big games in the second half.
The big test for Somerville and Co. would come against the English and South African packs, which bested the All Blacks in tight five confrontations this year.
Efficiency is one thing, but impact is also needed and hard runners like Phil Vickery and Richard Bands have to be matched if the All Blacks are to triumph.
