Whitelock recalls his brave ABS granddad

Sam Whitelock has opened up on the courageous tale of his grandfather’s battle to make the All Blacks on the back of his World War II injuries as New Zealand get set to play France on Armistice Day this weekend.

As a mark of respect the All Blacks will wear the RSA poppy on their sleeves for the test in Paris (8.45am Sunday NZT) and that will have special significance for Whitelock.

His grandfather Nelson Dalzell was also an All Blacks lock but didn’t make his debut until the age of 32 on the 1953-54 northern tour when he played 22 matches, including all five tests. The biggest man in the touring squad, he developed a formidable second-row partnership with Tiny White.

But it was a huge struggle for Dalzell to continue his rugby career after the injuries he suffered fighting in the Pacific region during World War II that almost saw one of his legs amputated.

"He was injured early on in one of the battles and had a lot of shrapnel in the lower part of his legs and back,’’ Whitelock said.

‘‘They wanted to amputate his leg but he wouldn’t let them and there was a big argument that went on because he was a young, promising rugby player.

‘‘Long story short, they didn’t amputate it and in later life he was

‘‘Coming off a loss you want to get straight back out there and prove yourself again.’’ Damian Mckenzie

didn’t best please his coaches, to erase.

‘‘Coming off a loss you want to get straight back out there and prove yourself again,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s been a long three-week wait. It was my first loss in the black jersey, and took a while to sink in. It was a good learning.’’

That learning? ‘‘Just around my option-taking, what’s right and not right, and being smart around lucky enough to play for Canterbury and then make his international debut for the All Blacks.

‘‘The story goes that he had a hole in the front part of his leg that he used to put a little bit of wood in, he’d strap that on, which was a wound from war. And that’s how he played all his games with that piece of wood in his leg to protect it.’’

Dalzell’s All Blacks and rugby connections were many. His wife was the sister of his Canterbury and All Blacks team-mate Allan Elsom, and his son Anthony played for Canterbury as a loose forward in the early 1980s.

One son-in-law Graeme Higginson was an All Blacks lock in the 1980s. Another son-in-law, Braeden Whitelock played for Manawatu (1979-84) and NZ Colts (1979).

All Blacks George and Sam Whitelock are his grandsons as is Luke Whitelock, who has been called into the current touring party in France as injuries hit the squad. Crusaders player Adam Whitelock completes the talented group of Dalzell’s rugby-mad grandsons.

Dalzell died in 1989 at the age of 68.

Members of the All Blacks touring party are also set to pay their respects at a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

my footy. At times I like to take a few risks, but it’s trying to get that balance between high risk and high reward.

‘‘It’s not about changing anything dramatically, but improving the little things, the most important things. I learnt a lot that game.’’

On Wednesday in this beautiful city he went on a cycle tour that took in the Louvre, the Notre Dame cathedral and that Arc de Triomphe circumnavigation that requires a mix of bravery and fine judgment.

‘‘It got the heart ticking over for a couple of minutes,’’ he said of the roundabout. ‘‘The driving is a bit different in Paris compared to back home. I don’t know if there are any rules over here. You just drive where there’s space.’’