Rugby: Emotion running high for All Blacks' Samoan hard man

Jerome Kaino. Photo / Ron Burgin.

Deeply connected to his Samoan heritage and fiercely proud to be an All Black, Jerome Kaino has known since the test in Apia this week was announced more than a year ago, that it would be an unusually emotional occasion for him should he be involved.

The death of his close friend, inspiration and mentor, Jerry Collins, has added another dimension and Kaino, one of the hardest men in the world game, will do well to hold it all together on the day.

He's given the next few days a fair amount of thought to ensure that he can tick all the boxes he wants which would be to play well, win the test and love the whole experience from start to finish.

Since the tragic events of June 5, Kaino has put somewhere near the top of his agenda how he can make his old mate proud.

"I have had a think about that the last week or so and if I do get selected in that six jersey, how I will prepare for it," said Kaino.

"It is hard not to think about it being in that position. It will be quite emotional but whatever I do, I have to make sure that I am able to prepare well and do that jersey justice and make Jerry proud. Whatever I do needs to be right and put out a performance worthy enough for the jersey and Jerry.

"I have wanted to play this game since it was announced. If I am in that team, my number one focus is to play well for the All Blacks and do my role.

"It is going to be hard doing that in Samoa - we have never been there before and the conditions will be different. It is humid and it is quite important for us, especially the boys who have Samoan heritage, not to get carried away with the hype and to remember what we are over there [to do] and that is to play well."

His nervousness about doing the jersey justice is compounded by his lack of game time.

Kaino hasn't played since breaking his finger in early May and while he says he's been able to do conditioning work during his layoff, training is never the same as playing.

The heat and humidity in Apia will be intense - and so too will be the approach from the home side. Samoa have managed to collect most of the players they wanted from their European, Japanese and New Zealand clubs and are unquestionably going to pick up the kitchen sink and hurl it at the All Blacks.

"We have had a look at a few of their end of year tours they have had in the UK," said Kaino.

"I'd say the foundation of their team is their physicality and how they impose themselves and for us, that's how we get into our game.

"We hold our own in the contact and if we are going to wear them down we are going to have to fight fire with fire and deal with that physicality because we have got guys in this team who love that type of rugby but also we are not one-dimensional.

"We can change things up in terms of [how] we deliver that physicality," says Kaino.