In these days of rest, rotation and five-minute test caps, there is something reassuringly old-fashioned about Tony Woodcock's career. He made his test debut in Cardiff in 2002, but didn't get his second cap until 2005 - from then until now, he's been pretty much a constant fixture in the All Black ranks. The 76 tests Woodcock has compiled make him the country's most-capped prop.
He is a work horse and an old-fashioned scrummager. You're more likely to see Woodcock head-down-arse-up, engaged in the arcane arts that even in these happy-clappy times still comprise the prop's trade than darting about linking with midfielders and chucking 25m spiral passes. The 30 tests it took Woodcock to score a point (a try against the Wallabies in Melbourne in 2006) is an All Black record that will bring a gnarled grin to many an ex-frontrower's face.
Former Wallaby prop Andrew Blades unwittingly gave Woodcock his nickname when he labelled the hulking prop a "myth" during the 2008 Super rugby series. A Herald reporter who was in the Blues changing room midweek a month later said the place was spotless, with one newspaper clipping stuck on the wall by the door. The "Myth" label had become motivation.
Last year, he was troubled by a middle-ear infection and had a poor end-of-year tour. Woodcock's 2011 Super 15 was also curtailed by injury, but he has the faith of the selectors and is unlikely to let them down.
Position: Prop
Tests: 76
Born: January 27, 1981, Helensville\
Stats: 1.84m, 119kg
