All Blacks: The school of hard knocks

All Black Ma'a Nonu (right) reaches in to tackle 16-year-old Nick Parsons. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Auckland student Nick Parsons had to brace himself as star All Black tackler Ma'a Nonu came in for a hit.

The 16-year-old was among 10 people from Auckland and one from Hamilton who won the chance to have a closed speed drills session with Nonu and the All Blacks strength and conditioning coach, Nick Gill, yesterday.

The session was part of a competition run by All Blacks sponsor adidas to acknowledge the brand's first adiZero Speed Week, which involves sporting stars from around the world.

At yesterday's session, held at Eden Park, Nonu showed off some of his ball-handling and tackling skills, much to the delight of the winners.

The group also got to go head-to-head with the All Black star in a sprinting race.