By WYNNE GRAY
No 8
Age: 23
Height: 1.90m
Weight: 105kg
NPC team: Wellington
Super 12: Highlanders
Super 12 games: 25
Test debut: 2002
Test caps: 2
Inside every tight forward, they say, is a midfield back yearning to get out.
Joe McDonnell reversed that trend, Kees Meeuws too as they headed
to be props once their schoolboy rugby was done.
Rodney So'oialo did not make it to the frontrow but he had further to move after playing fullback for a decent chunk of his Mana College career.
His switch to looseforward and the skills he showed as a regular member of the national sevens squad persuaded the All Black selectors he had the multi-skills needed at the top level.
He may still be a bit rough around the edges, a little undisciplined, but it did seem a harsh call when he was dropped to the bench after one start as No 8 this season against a powerful England side in shocking conditions at Wellington.
So'oialo, Caleb Ralph and Ma'a Nonu went the same way, no more test starts this winter, but who would argue against their replacements?
So what do we notice about So'oialo, apart from the fact that, like Tana Umaga, his dreadlocks seem to be a hypnotic subject for the nation's photographers?
For a one-time back So'oialo does not mind mixing it, he is very pacy, a bit raw, perhaps a bit too individual for John Mitchell to consider as his best No 8 in a World Cup showdown. He can lose his support by either running too far or kicking, but the 24-year-old is an excitement machine.
He was a star of the Super 12, his work so impressive that he forced Mitchell, a former No 8 himself, to bypass Scott Robertson who he had groomed to occupy that position.
No 8 has been a problem in recent years with Taine Randell, Ron Cribb, Paul Miller, Sam Broomhall, Robertson, Jerry Collins and So'oilao all tried with mixed results.
