Rugby: Five minutes' warning enough for Joe

Joe Rokocoko (No 11) and Brendon Leonard celebrate after the Leonard try. Photo / Reuters

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Left wing Joe Rokocoko got only five minutes' warning he was needed for his 44th test.

Good fortune meant he had brought his boots and mouthguard to the park even though he was not named in the All Blacks starting XV or reserves for Saturday's test against the Springboks.

The 24-year-old was pressed into sudden service when Sitiveni Sivivatu felt a twinge in his calf muscle during the side's final warmup drill.

Sivivatu's late withdrawal repeated the bizarre exit of lock Keith Robinson from the test against France in Wellington when he strained his calf hitting tackle bags during practice for that test.

In the short turnaround, coach Graham Henry whistled up Rokocoko and told him to just play, not to worry too much about moves and theories.

Rokocoko was one of the most likely All Black attackers as was replacement halfback Brendon Leonard, who made such an impact when he was subbed on.

Eventually the pair combined in the 68th minute to get the stuttering All Blacks into the try books. After picking up a difficult pass and gassing away from the Boks, Rokocoko sighted Leonard trailing up the middle of the park and found him with a no-look reverse pass.

"I knew it was coming, I could see what he was up to," Leonard revealed.

"For me it is sort of trying to get into the game as early as possible, make the first tackle, good first pass and then I feel I am on my way from there. Have a run and bring my own game into the main game as much as possible.

"I watched the first 50-odd minutes and saw a few areas I might be able to target around the South African defence at rucks and I thought when I got out there I might have a crack at that."

Leonard said his natural game was to run straight and hard because he was not the biggest guy in the side. His aim was to clinch his World Cup place when the squad was announced on Sunday and then add to the pressure he could put on Byron Kelleher and Piri Weepu.

Rokocoko thought the backs did well to identify the holes in the Springboks defence but they had allowed their enthusiasm to overtake the need for basic attention.