We all know of Brodie Retallick's huge work-rate, borne out by the statistics, but he has a challenge ahead of him for this weekend's Rugby Championship showdown against the South Africans in Wellington.
For starters, he does not have Sam Whitelock alongside him to wreak damage at the rucks andtake the burden off him at the lineouts. At 23, Retallick assumes the senior locking role, probably alongside older but fringe second-rower Jeremy Thrush.
Their opponents will likely be the world's most vaunted lineout duo of Victor Matfield and Eben Etzebeth.
Matfield is not long back from injury, and needs little introduction, while the parallels between Retallick and Etzebeth are remarkable.
The latter is just a few months younger than the 23-year-old All Black, and is more of a go-to man at lineout time, and capable of stealing opposition ball. Neither has missed a tackle in the opening three tests and, despite heavy work in the engine room and the dark places that are rucks, neither has been penalised heavily. Richie McCaw leads the way for All Blacks being pinged the most in the Rugby Championship.
Retallick has carried more often and more effectively than Etzebeth thus far in this competition.
All the numbers and the history point to a mouth-watering match-up between not just two of the best young locks in world rugby, but two of the best second-rowers, period.
