Rugby: Hayman answer to locking woes?

Carl Hayman is the reserve locking option for the All Blacks against Portugal. Photo / Brett Phibbs

MARSEILLE - Burly prop Carl Hayman is the latest answer to the All Blacks' rugby World Cup locking woes but don't expect him to leap like a gazelle contesting Portuguese lineout on Saturday.

Hayman was identified today by coach Graham Henry as the reserve lock option among the five forwards on the bench.

With Keith Robinson and Reuben Thorne both out injured for another week, there is no logical lock backup to specialists Ali Williams and Chris Jack, who start for a second week.

Last week bustling No 8 Sione Lauaki played the last nine minutes there and this week it seems Hayman - admittedly tall for a prop at 1.93m - gets the callup.

"It's going to be a bit different I guess but if he asked me to play anywhere on the field, I'd jump at the chance," he said, although it seems the jumping won't extend to lineout time.

"There's more one way to skin a cat and there's plenty of good loose forwards who can jump out there."

Hayman and Lauaki both slotted in at lock as a contingency during the All Blacks' pre-World Cup camp trials but Hayman's previous experience before then dates back to the fifth form at King's High School in Dunedin.

Then came a career-defining moment for the man regarded as the world's premier prop.

"There were no props so I got chucked in at prop ... and I've been stuck at prop ever since. It's ended out all right."

- NZPA