‘Annoying Guzzler’ to return
Brodie Retallick’s fellow All Blacks knew the comeback was on probably even before he did. He was back to being his annoying self at training, and that was as good a sign as any for them.
Retallick makes his muchanticipated return tomorrow against Namibia in Tokyo after dislocating his shoulder in the 16-16 draw against the Springboks in Wellington at the end of July.
‘‘It’s pretty exciting,’’ said
All Blacks coach Steve
Hansen of the prospect of having the man they call
‘Guzzler’ back in his lineup, and playing yet another test alongside stand-in skipper Sam Whitelock. ‘‘He has just worked hard. We’ve got a great medical staff and they’ve done some good work with him. And mother nature I suppose has helped – he’s just a good healer. Lets just hope he stays healed.’’
Hansen said the training field told him the time was right to confirm Retallick’s return, at least a week ahead of schedule.
‘‘He’s been annoying, particularly over the last couple of runs. He’s clearly decided it’s time to be annoying again. So that’s a good sign. He’s been counting down.’’
Whitelock, who has played over a half-century of tests alongside his second-row mate, backed up Hansen’s assertion that the annoy-meter needle was tipping the red zone.
‘‘He’s been a little bit annoying the last couple of weeks,’’ he added. ‘‘He’s good today – he’s back to where he likes to be. It’s going to be good to have him on the same side versus having him in the opposition [at training] annoying us.’’
Retallick admitted to relief that he could finally make his first move at this World Cup.
‘‘I’m pretty nervous. It’s been a long stint, and before that I only had a couple of games at the end of Super Rugby. The training we’re doing is pretty game-like, but there’s still that bit of nervousness as it’s been quite some time since I played.’’