A very special stat slipped under the radar ahead of last weekend's big All Blacks win over the Wallabies at Eden Park.
The head strength and conditioning coach for the squad, Nic Gill, took charge for his 200th Test - the magic mark being reached in a career in rugby spanning over 20 years.
From Christchurch to Cape Town, Dublin to Dunedin and every rugby patch in between – Gill has barked orders at All Blacks for ions.
“And my voice just keeps getting louder, mate,” he told 1News with a grin.
Starting out as a volunteer in 2000 with the Waikato NPC team, Gill is now an associate professor in human performance with plenty of case studies at his disposal thanks to a front row seat to the rise of rugby’s professionalism.
“The All Blacks in 2004, I remember Andrew Mehrtens refusing to do lower body weights cos he got sore legs doing it,” Gill recalled.
“Our front row averages 125kgs [today] but across the front when I started it was 110-112 kilos average.
“Massive change in size but they're running as fast or faster!”
Gill told 1News he calculates he's spent around six years living in a hotel room; his children have been born and grown up with him in the job.
“The first fitness test I was due to run I missed because my daughter was being born - she knows no different, but rugby's given so much to us.”
After 20 years monitoring some of rugby’s best, some questions inevitably get asked about who tops the charts.
And don’t worry, he’s not shy.
“Beaudy [Barrett] is the best by far for time in [the beep test] - Richie [McCaw] for his size was amazing,” Gill said.
“Rieko [Ioane] is fastest, very strong very powerful and very fit, very lean and big.
“Joe Moody's pretty strong and Nepo Laulala… and Fletcher Newell, who's new on the scene, for a big boy he can shift over five metres like I've never seen before.”
Benchmarks that can all be beaten with neither Gill or the All Blacks slowing down any time soon.
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