As learning experiences go, Luke Romano's introduction to Argentine rugby was a painful one.
The All Blacks lock is considered an excellent ball carrier, especially out wide where his surprising pace and good hands can put his team on the front foot or spark a breakout.
In Wellington a few weeks ago, however, he found himself going backwards and there wasn't a lot he could do about it. A keen pig hunter, he probably discovered what his four-legged targets feel like after they have been hassled and harried by his dogs.
"I'm still finding my feet at this level and not having played them before I wasn't too sure about how they would defend or what sort of techniques they like to employ so I'm obviously a lot better off going into this match after playing them once before," he said. "There were a few times when I ended up on my back.
"I think what makes them hard is that they're not big, big men like the South Africans, but they hit just as hard. After the last game in Wellington, I was pretty sore. It took me two or three days to recover from that."