All Blacks: Veteran Thorn keeps the emotions in check

Brad Thorn scores against Argentina during the quarter-final. He has no time for camera-conscious showboaters. Photo / Brett Phibbs

There probably won't be any tears from Brad Thorn when his All Black career finishes sometime in the next 10 days, but there might be a few witty one-liners.

Thorn is firmly in the old school camp when it comes to the All Blacks. He doesn't do flashy and doesn't like hogging the limelight, but his comic timing can be impeccable, even during the week of one of the biggest games in his extensive sporting career: a World Cup semifinal against the Wallabies.

When he does leave the All Blacks to take up a club contract in Japan he can do so safe in the knowledge that he has put on the record one of his pet hates - pre-planned try celebrations.

"One of my pet hates is organised try celebrations, especially when I see guys waiting for the camera to get on them before they do it. Raw emotion is great. That's just me, I'm a little bit old school I guess."

Thorn's deadpan delivery was aimed at some of his teammates - Sonny Bill Williams take a bow - but Wallabies showboaters Adam Ashley-Cooper and Digby Ioane could have been in his sights too.

He also raised a chuckle when talking about meeting the 1987 World Cup-winning All Blacks this week. The 36-year-old laughed when asked if he could almost have played in the team of 87, adding: "Not quite, but what I did work out was we had the All Blacks here for lunch yesterday and it was 24 years [since they won the World Cup] and I worked out that 24 years from now I'll be 60. So if we did do okay, that will be something to look back on."

The Mosgiel-born lock has spent a fair chunk of time living in Australia and a big part of that was representing the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL and the Kangaroos league team, so meeting the Wallabies in the twilight of his All Blacks career will be poignant for him.

The All Blacks were knocked out of the 2003 World Cup by Australia at the semifinal stage, with Thorn in the side after making his debut for the team in the same year.

"They were different times for me back then," he said. "I had a taste of rugby and had a year off and came back in '03. It was a huge year for me, I was just trying to learn the game. By the time I got through to the semi against Australia, even though I started the pool games I was on the bench, so I came on in the last 20 minutes when Australia were in the lead and it panned out how it did so ... it sucked."

The All Blacks forwards will be the key to putting that defeat right on Sunday and Thorn, a veteran of 57 tests, will play a big part in that. He is the engine in a pack which will look to blow the Wallabies forwards off the park like they did at the same venue in the Tri-Nations match in August and give what is a new and unfamiliar backline quick ball.

He will also come up against another veteran in lock Nathan Sharpe, who will be celebrating his 100th cap for the Wallabies. "I think everyone knows, in Australia and New Zealand, the respect I have for Nathan Sharpe. He's a really good man as well. I call him a friend off the paddock."

As for Sonny Bill Williams, he listened to Thorn's take on try celebrations with interest and came back with a neat response of his own. "They don't get over the line that often," Williams said of the forwards, and Thorn in particular, who scored against Argentina on Sunday. "It's good so see them get over there and see their 'raw emotions'."