Tony Woodcock does not do effusive. Not regularly, not even when he was paraded to discuss his impending 100th test in Wellington. Once the match was done, Woodcock was still reserved as his mate Andrew Hore tried to uncork a few answers for the All Blacks website.
Perhaps that's the secret to a test career which began with his first All Black tour in 2002 and shows few signs of hitting the skids before the next World Cup.
Woodcock is on the level, his equilibrium is rock steady like his work at loosehead prop. He can adjust to new scrum laws, cope with the expansive patterns or the hardcore work his position demands.
He's been a Blues man except for last year's diversion to the Highlanders and the lure of a season on the Hore ranch out in Central Otago when the southern man and the Kaukapakapa Kid mixed their sports and leisure interests.
It was a disappointing shift as the Highlanders fell apart but Woodcock returned to form in the Rugby Championship as he once again showed his concrete scrum work and the mental edge needed for internationals.