Scotty Stevenson: Veterans like Mealamu at heart of tough assignments

Keven Mealamu continues to work on his recovery after every game. Picture / Getty Images

If you had walked under the temporary stand at Napier's McLean Park about 20 minutes after fulltime of that rain-drenched test between the All Blacks and the Pumas on September 6, you may have got an idea of the determination and resolve of Keven Mealamu.

While all his teammates were safely inside the breeze-block surrounds of the home team changing room, Mealamu was a man apart, grunting his way through his recovery work on that most torturous of all fitness contraptions, the watt bike. His scarred forehead beaded with sweat, his calves (possibly the most talked about two muscles in all of New Zealand rugby) taut and straining.

"How you doing, Kevvy?" asked a passerby. "Oh, you know, just doing what has to be done," was his smiling response. At 35, the "what" that needs doing has changed a fair bit since the original nugget began his professional career. These days, it seems, Mealamu is in a constant battle against his body. His lone recovery session under the scaffolds is evidence that it's a battle he's willing to fight for some time to come - his performance against the Pumas in La Plata evidence he just might be winning it.

Back in June, England coach Stuart Lancaster sat in the lobby of the Pullman Hotel in Auckland, chatting candidly about that week's test against the All Blacks. He was open and honest about what he was trying to achieve with his squad. Yes, he wanted to win a test - if not a series - against New Zealand but, in his mind, he had a more important goal: he wanted to build the number of caps in his squad.

Lancaster understood then, as he does now, that experience wins championships. Experience wins World Cups, too. And it's experience that is guiding the All Blacks' scarcely believable run under the coaching reign of Steve Hansen. You can say what you like about the talent of the new kids on the block, but when you drill down into last week's test performance, you'll find the test veterans at the heart of everything.

Of course, experience is valuable only if it is backed up by performance. And, after being kept in cotton wool and calf ice for the best part of a year on the international schedule, Mealamu (whose last start before the La Plata test was in November 2013) showed he's still capable of packing an almighty performance punch. His was the kind of performance that silences critics and doubters. He had plenty of both prior to the match.

Mealamu is an active representation of the one thing that continues to set the All Blacks apart from their international rivals - continuity. He is restaurant music - happy to be part of the background, but somehow essential. He's Michael Corleone, paraphrased: "Every time you think I'm out, they pull me back in." Mealamu may not be able to do every weekend what he did on Sunday morning but, like a classic car, even if you don't drive it every day, you're sure as hell glad you've got it in the garage.

Mealamu may not like the term, but after 118 tests he is the ultimate back-up plan. He and the likes of McCaw and Jane and Smith and Nonu and Dagg and the other winners of the William Webb Ellis Cup allow the coaches to build depth around them; to feel comfortable with their development plans knowing that the side's nucleus of test-match wisdom is untouchable.

In this way, the All Blacks are as much building for 2019 as they are for the next edition of the global showpiece, knowing that by the time the current platoon of old soldiers goes on its way to the goldfields of France and Japan, the next wave of players will be on their way to 100 caps.

Mind you, they'll have some way to go before they are as dedicatedas Keven, all alone, pedalling inthe dark, not going anywhere fornow.