What to make of All Blacks test squad named to face England. Video / Sky Sport
OPINION:
By Gregor Paul in London
It is four years since the All Blacks last played England in London and four years since Brodie Retallick last walked off a test ground having been the most dominant figure.
The All Blacks needed him at his ferocious best at Twickenham in 2018.It was a dreadful day, cold, wet and grey, but England ignored the dank and played with incredible pride and energy in the first 25 minutes.
It was threatening to be a disastrous outing for the All Blacks — they were 15-0 down after as many minutes and however bad things had turned in 2012 when Manu Tuilagi led a 12-minute blitz that confined New Zealand to a 38-21 loss, 2018 was on track to be a lot worse.
England were all about the ground assault that day, so the All Blacks took the fight to the air, winning throws and disrupting possession which proved to be their lifeline back into the contest and as much as Twickenham howled with derision when the home side had a winning try ruled out and ended up losing 16-15, so too was there incredible respect for the feats of Retallick.
He was the central figure in a story where the All Blacks managed to find a way to contain England’s power game and deliver a compelling version of their own.
Brodie Retallick was dominant against England at Twickenham in 2018. Photo / Photosport
History has a neat way of aligning because Retallick, having served a two-match suspension after being red-carded in Japan, is expected to be back in the All Blacks second row at Twickenham to win his 100th cap.
It’s an honour he will share with England’s Owen Farrell, who will also be making his 100th appearance, but Retallick will be hopeful that his big day is marked with a victory and one in which he provides a sharp reminder that he is one of the great players of the last decade and maybe even the best lock the All Blacks have known.
For all that Retallick has delivered since he won his first test cap in 2012, there’s no doubt his career needs a great last chapter: one last enduring reminder that he has a special ability to make himself unusually influential in a position many feel is all about doing little-appreciated donkey work.
And that’s what has made Retallick different. He’s always had an appetite for hard work, gone down the mines with the rest of the tight five to do the thankless tasks of setting scrums and cleaning out bodies.
But in his prime, between 2012 and that test at Twickenham in 2018, he was like a fast-food menu, in the way he could offer so many side dishes as it were and ways in which to supersize his performance.
The game has been relatively unkind to him since late 2018. The injuries have just kept coming, the bad luck seemingly endless and of course, there was the 18 months that he spent in Japan which almost certainly restored a broken body, but didn’t do much for his naturally, aggressive and abrasive game.
Retallick was a lock with no peer for quite some time, but not these days. Now there are locks every bit his equal, and some such as Eben Etzebeth, Maro Itoje and Cameron Woki may feel like in the last few years they have usurped Retallick as the form second rowers in the world game.
A 100th test appearance feels, then, like it is the perfect time for Retallick to wind back the clock and give one last reminder that he can still play the way he did that day at Twickenham four years ago.
In a game that will inevitably be confrontational, brutal and relentless, the All Blacks need not just the resilience to stand up to England, but the sheer bloody-mindedness to dominate them.
And that’s what Retallick must do on his special day — remind everyone he is a special player.
