Steve Hansen says 'annoying' Brodie Retallick fizzing for All Blacks return

After almost three months on the sideline, Brodie Retallick is pumped to get back on the pitch for the All Blacks after being named to start against Namibia in this weekend’s Rugby World Cup match.

In fact, coach Steve Hansen says Retallick has been very vocal about the return.

"He’s been annoying," Hansen told media with a small grin after today’s team naming.

"Particularly over the last couple of training runs, he’s decided it’s time to be an annoying guy again and that’s always a good sign.

"He’s counting it down – he knows how long it is ‘til he gets to play. He’s been counting for the last five days, he tells me every day.

"He’s pretty excited and he should be."

Retallick has been out injured since July after he dislocated his shoulder in the All Blacks 16-all draw with the Springboks during the Rugby Championship.

It was estimated Retallick wouldn’t be back in black until the knockout section of this year’s World Cup if he was to return but Hansen credited the team’s medical staff and Retallick’s knack as a “good healer” will see him feature in the All Blacks’ penultimate pool match.

Hansen said he was confident Retallick would be able to slot straight back into the All Blacks after the injury, with Sunday’s Test in Tokyo his first game since returning from injury unlike others in the squad who had Mitre 10 Cup games to prepare for the rigours of international rugby.

"He’s come back from injuries and personal tragedies in the past, so he knows how to go about doing that," Hansen said.

"He loves playing and when you get something taken away from you that you love, it’s pretty easy to work hard to get back out there."

The squad is “pretty excited” to see Retallick return as well, Hansen said.

"You go back to the night it actually happened and there was a bit of despair but then we found out that it wasn’t one of those dislocations that were going to require an operation so there was a bit more hope.

"As he’s trained and got better and better, the guys have got more and more excited.

"None more so probably than the coach."