Lock Brodie Retallick appears set to be rushed back into the All Blacks squad for Saturday’s re-match against Argentina.
Retallick, back from a fractured cheekbone suffered in the third Test defeat to Ireland in Wellington, played 55 minutes for Hawke’s Bay in their successful Ranfurly Shield defence against North Harbour in Napier on Saturday.
He will lack match fitness after his long layoff, but head coach Ian Foster will likely back the 31-year-old’s experience and quality for a Test at Waikato Stadium which has suddenly become hugely significant for the All Blacks and Foster in particular.
Whether Retallick starts at lock or begins from the reserves bench remains to be seen but Foster’s preference will likely be for Retallick and Sam Whitelock to reunite in the second row and Scott Barrett to return to blindside flanker.
“The body is good and the cheekbone came through – it’s still in one piece," said Retallick at the All Blacks’ hotel on Monday afternoon. “It was exciting. It was 10 years since I last played for Hawke’s Bay, so it was awesome to get back and represent the region.
“Initially they said [I could return] six weeks post surgery and six weeks was on Sunday, so I asked the question about whether Saturday afternoon was much different to Sunday morning or Monday and the surgeon was happy.
“I’m not sure what the plan is,” he said of his All Blacks’ involvement. “I got through 55-odd minutes on Saturday and the body came through okay. Whether that’s enough for the coaches to now pick me here or go back to Hawke’s Bay, I’m not sure.”
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Retallick has previously bounced back well from injury and Foster will likely take a punt on him as he attempts to assemble his strongest squad after Saturday’s shock 25-18 defeat in Christchurch which sent the All Blacks back down to No.5 on the world rankings.
“I thought there had been some massive strides by the forward pack over the past couple of weeks and quite a few at the weekend," Retallick said. "I think they got it right, but I would love to be out there.
“Obviously, you feel for the boys. No one wants to lose and no one enjoys it. There were periods there where I thought they dominated up front and made some big strides around the ruck. As you say, they didn’t execute right but that’s the challenge of Test rugby. There are always fine margins.”
Retallick, who has played 95 Tests, felt the foundations were there for the All Blacks and all they needed was consistency.
After an excellent first-half set piece performance in Christchurch, the metaphorical wheels fell off, with the All Blacks losing three of their final four lineouts, including a not-straight throw by replacement hooker Codie Taylor in the 79th minute as his side went on the attack for the final time.
“That’s something that we need to be better at,” Whitelock said immediately afterwards.
“We showed - especially early in the game when we scored a maul try and we haven’t scored one of those for a while - how good it can be. Obviously to not execute potentially lost us the game.”
Forwards coach Jason Ryan told Sky’s Breakdown show on Sunday night of the late lineout woes: “They were some big moments through a lack of skill execution individually and also some timing and structure [issues]. We’ve got to shift that, we really do. I’m gutted by that, the boys are too. We’ll work on it.”
Whitelock, who has played 137 Tests, said being part of a team that has lost twice as many as it has won this year (four defeats, two wins), was “different”.
“It’s something you never want to be a part of," he said. "But we’re here now, we’ve just got to look forward and work out what we’re doing well – and there are things that we are doing well.
“They were smart, they scored and accumulated throughout the game.
“I thought we did some things pretty well. I thought our scrum was good at the start - we scored that maul try. We had some aspects that were pretty good, but you have to close the game out too and that’s what they did better than us.”
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