KEY POINTS:
Longest-serving All Black test prop.
It's a handy description to have on your rugby CV and even more remarkable for a bloke who lost the top of his big toe when he was five and tore his Achilles tendon in the same leg a few years ago.
But Greg "Yoda" Somerville has overcome those obstacles and years of competition from fellow tighthead prop Carl Hayman to head towards his 65th and probably last outing in the black jersey this weekend in Brisbane.
Somerville is heading for the Gloucester club for the final years of his sporting career and the All Blacks will probably take the chance to use other props such as John Afoa, Neemia Tialata and Ben Franks on their end-of-year tour.
That prospect does not faze the 30-year-old Somerville, who feels content about his game, his decision to leave New Zealand and his return from injury.
His longevity is a sign of the mental strength at play since he was promoted to the national championship for a solitary game in 1998.
Two years later he was making his test debut and had a near-mortgage on that job until Hayman's return to favour in 2004.
Somerville has battled away, though, wearing the jibes about his slim lower legs and his resemblance to the Star Wars character to carve out his niche in the front-row club.
His resilience showed early when he learned to run again after losing the end of his right big toe in a tractor accident on his father's farm in Wairoa.
Somerville showed that same determination when he made last year's World Cup squad after a torn Achilles and several operations meant he lost a year in the game.
"I think there's enough depth and looking to the future we have got to start developing and bringing others through into the action and the heat of the moment to get the most out of them," Somerville said.
"There are guys sitting in the wings and I know they are putting a lot of work into their game and I think they will be pretty good in the future."
Where once New Zealand looked a little lean on top props, Somerville is confident that with the continued guidance of guru Mike Cron a breadth of choice will develop for selectors.
"I've had a great time no matter what happens," Somerville said of his final year. "If someone had said you will play eight or nine seasons of All Blacks rugby I would not have believed them.
"I've had a good stint and in my head I have accepted that and it is not a real big issue to let go because I know I have done as much as I can ... I have had a good time and it has been more than I could have asked for."
He was grateful South African referee Jonathan Kaplan would control this deciding test. He admires Kaplan's calm manner and the consistent approach he has in ruling onscrums.
And the nickname? Somerville blames former All Black No 8 Xavier Rush for the intergalactic nickname when they were playing Colts rugby together. The prop's objection meant the moniker stuck fast, just as he has in the All Black front row.
GREG SOMERVILLE
Age: 30.
Tests: 64.
* Debut v Tonga 2000.
* Crusaders 115 games.
* Canterbury 54 games.
* NZ under-19, under-21, NZA, All Black.
Weight: 115kg.
Height: 1.87m.
