Rugby: Brodie Retallick ready to rumble for All Blacks

Brodie Retallick. Photo / Getty

It doesn't take a genius to work out that Brodie Retallick is more than a little eager to slip into his All Blacks jersey and make a point at Eden Park.

He, and his fellow forwards, would specifically like to make a statement about their readiness and willingness to roll up their sleeves and get on with the nasty business of beating up other similarly minded packs.

Retallick, one of the toughest and most gifted forwards in the world game, has followed the progress of the British & Irish Lions since they were named back in April, through to their arrival in New Zealand and has probably heard enough and read enough about their supposed desire to take the All Blacks on up front and challenge them at the set piece and collisions.

Such confrontation is very much his cup of tea. His mate in the second row, Sam Whitelock, is fairly keen on the combative areas of the game as well and both have a healthy appetite to scrummage, lineout jump and cleanout in the rucks.

They are eager to give a strong reminder of that against Samoa and then carry on in that vein the flowing week against the Lions.

"I guess in the back of the mind we know what is coming in the next few weeks but the game for us on Friday night is a great opportunity for us," said Retallick.

"It is our first hit out of 2017 and I think we have found previously we have found some work-ons in our first test. It hasn't always worked out the way we wanted it to so it is still an All Blacks test and we know that if we get things right on Friday night that's going to be good for us.

"It is very exciting. We have heard a lot about the Lions. We have seen a lot of games so far. It would be nice to hear people talk about what the All Blacks are doing well but time will tell."

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen will be secretly delighted with Retallick's state of mind and obvious desire to put down a marker against Samoa.

The challenge for Hansen since the All Blacks assembled on Sunday has been partly about establishing a basic plan on how he wants the team to play, but more so about getting the players to transition their attitude into test mode.

As the Lions showed last week in Christchurch, there is a difference between Super Rugby and test rugby. While the match against the Crusaders wasn't an official test, the Lions treated it as if it was and adopted a clever, accurate, grinding game that was based on collision warfare and aerial bombardment.

Hansen needs his players to be mentally connected at Eden Park against Samoa - aware that they need to turn up at the set-piece, hit hard across the field and be prepared to be patient, resilient and creative to get the job done.

"A win is getting a game of footy and getting some combinations going," said Hansen. "The hardest thing to do and we have seen it with the Lions is that you are bringing in a group of people that come from different teams and have been playing different defensive patterns and different attack structures.

"You can't just click your fingers and say 'right, we are are away'. So if we can get through the game and get some connections going and get back into the All Black way, play with a bit of intensity at some space and with some accuracy...that will be good while obviously keeping an eye on the scoreboard will be handy, too."