Whitelock possesses special motivation
Mumps strike ABs again, Savea out
Did you know the All Blacks haven’t lost to Wales since 1953? Sam Whitelock certainly did.
The 29-year-old All Blacks lock, who will play his 96th test in Sunday’s clash against Wales at the Principality Stadium, has that date etched in his memory.
And not because he takes particular delight in beating Wales, or that he is especially driven by extending that win streak which now numbers 29 tests since the first post-1953 victory in 1963.
If you know Whitelock, you will realise this is not a fellow driven by numbers, except the ones on the scoreboard that reflect whether his team has just beaten the other mob. He makes that more than clear in due course.
But when Whitelock was asked, at their Cardiff hotel yesterday, about the All Blacks’ last defeat to Wales in ‘53 he noticeably perked up.
‘‘It’s funny you bring up that game,’’ he responded. ‘‘My grandfather (George Nelson Dalzell) played for the All Blacks when they lost that game. I’ve been waiting for that question the whole time I’ve been here.’’
Whitelock has already honoured his grandfather, who played with a piece of wood in his leg courtesy of World War II shrapnel injuries, prior to the Armistice Day matchup against France.
Now here he was again, before snapping back into ‘‘one game at a time’’ mode.
‘‘It’s one of those things. History is history. You can’t change what’s happened. We are aware of it to a point but we don’t put a lot of time and energy into it. We’re just trying to energise the current group, and we feel that’s the best way to have a good performance.
‘‘Once we step away from the game, those are the things we can have a good think about. But at the moment, because test rugby is week-in, week-out, you don’t have time to think about those things.’’
But did he ever hear any stories of that famous game at the Arms Park, won 13-8 by the Welsh after they had trailed 8-5 at the half? (And maybe, did he realise that at that stage the Welsh had won three of four against the All Blacks?)
‘‘It was not really talked about,’’ shot back Whitelock. End of conversation.
But Whitelock did reveal that the team was bristling on the back of its ill-disciplined and strangely flat performance against the Scots. It was a great test match at an electric Murrayfield, but a long, long way from a great All Black display.
By all accounts the game review in Cardiff on Monday involved very little vision and some fairly stern words from head coach Steve Hansen.
‘‘We understand we didn’t play as well as we would have liked,’’ said Whitelock. ‘‘There’s no point going over it 100 times to get a point that we already have. it was a good honest conversation, and we’ve found in the past when we do that we get the best buy-in from the team.’’ No one mention the word epidemic, but the All Blacks have now suffered a third case of mumps that has affected their end-of-year tour.
Loose forward Ardie Savea is the latest member of the All Blacks touring party to contract the contagious viral infection, with the Wellingtonian in isolation at their central city Cardiff hotel.
It goes without saying that Savea, who has not been required for test duty on this tour, is out of the mix for Sunday’s final international of the year against Wales at Principality Stadium.
Savea joins midfield back Jack Goodue and wing Rieko Ioane who have also suffered bouts of the disease.
Goodhue picked his case up prior to departure from New Zealand, with the rookie All Black forced to delay his travel to the UK by nearly a week.
Ioane was then laid low in London with what was diagnosed as mumps, but recovered in time to play the test against France in Paris the following week.
The All Blacks believe Savea likely contracted his mumps from Ioane.
Whitelock also revealed he was getting around as many less experienced team-mates as he could this week to remind them about one very important factor when it came to this final test in November.
‘‘I think back to my first year touring with the All Blacks, and we finished here as well. I took a lot of lessons out of that. I was probably thinking of home because I was young and inexperienced, and didn’t understand the pressure of playing that last game here.
‘‘I’ve been trying to have a few conversations around most of the squad so they’re aware of the pressures that are coming this week.’’
So is he thinking of his summer? ‘‘I haven’t even thought about it.’’
A lighter note to finish on: lock Scott Barrett, sitting alongside Whitelock, was asked about the Barrett brothers’ victory as ‘‘sibling superstars’’ in the Aussie Nickleodeon Kids Choice sports awards.
‘‘Liam Squire was giving me a bit of stick yesterday, pumping me up, saying ‘you’re the man, you’re winning all these awards’. I don’t even know what it’s about,’’ he said.