Brodie Retallick

Brodie Retallick
Full name Brodie Allan Retallick
Date of birth (1991-05-31) 31 May 1991
Place of birth Amberley, New Zealand
Height 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)
Weight 121 kg (19 st 1 lb; 267 lb)
School Christchurch Boys' High School
University Eastern Institute of Technology
Notable relative(s) Culum Retallick (cousin)
John Ashworth (uncle)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock
Current team Chiefs, Hawke's Bay
All Black No. 1110
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2010–2011 Hawke's Bay 12 (5)
2012– Chiefs 94 (60)
2012–2015 Bay of Plenty 0 (0)
2016– Hawke's Bay 0 (0)
Correct as of 20 May 2018
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2011 New Zealand U20 4 (0)
2012– New Zealand 71 (20)
Correct as of 10 September 2018

Brodie Allan Retallick (born 31 May 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, who currently represents the All Blacks in international rugby, as well as the Chiefs in Super Rugby, having worked his way there by playing for the Hawke's Bay Magpies in the Mitre 10 Cup. His regular playing position is lock. He was a key member of 2015 Rugby World Cup winning team. Retallick was the winner of World Rugby Player of the Year in 2014 and is the award's youngest winner to date.

Retallick has earned frequent comparisons to the late former All Black lock, Sir Colin Meads.

Playing Career

Early Career

Retallick attended Christchurch Boys' High School before playing for the Hawkes Bay Magpies in 2010 and 2011 ITM Cup.[1] He plays for the Chiefs in Super Rugby[2] and the Hawkes Bay Magpies in the Mitre 10 Cup.[3]

Retallick represented New Zealand under 20 in the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship.[4] Retallick's performances for the NZ under-20 team saw him earn a contract with the Chiefs for the 2012 Super Rugby season. Retallick had become a regular starter for the Chiefs by the end of the 2012 season and started in the 2012 Super Rugby Final, on 4 August that year, with the Chiefs winning against the Sharks 37-6. Retallick was further honoured for his outstanding performances during Super Rugby and was called up for the All Blacks during the 2012 Super Rugby season.

His debut for the All Blacks was against Ireland on 9 June 2012, during the 2012 Ireland rugby union tour of New Zealand. Retallick started on debut, in a locking combination with Sam Whitelock, a combination that has been regularly used by the All Blacks ever since Retallick's debut, which ended in a 42-10 win for New Zealand. Retallick played in every match for the All Blacks, either from the bench or starting, in the 2012 Rugby Championship, playing 13 games for the national side in total for the 2012 season.[5]

2013-2015

In 2013, Retallick continued his workload for the All Blacks by playing a further 11 tests during the year, having already started for the Chiefs in the 2013 Super Rugby Final.

He was a regular starter for the All Blacks by the time the 2013 Rugby Championship had started, with Luke Romano battling with injury. Retallick cemented his place in the side on 14 September 2013, winning the award for Man of the Match against South Africa. Retallick scored a try in the 21st minute, which was the first of his international career, and played the full 80 minutes, playing the best game of his career so far as the All Blacks beat South Africa 29-15.

By 2014, the world-class locking combination of Retallick with Sam Whitelock meant he had now been recognised as an automatic selection for the All Blacks.[6] Retallick played in 12 tests for the All Blacks in 2014 and took his career to new heights that year, winning the award for World Rugby Player of the Year at the end of 2014. Retallick also won the Kelvin R Tremain award for the best New Zealand-based player of 2014 at the Steinlager Rugby Awards on 11 December 2014. [7]

Retallick was selected by Head Coach Steve Hansen as one of 31 players for New Zealand's All Black squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup after a string of outstanding performances for the All Blacks and the Chiefs. Retallick played well during the competition, earning him a starting spot for the quarter-final against France on 17 October 2015. Retallick scored the opening try against France in the 11th minute and lasted the full 80 minutes of the quarter-final as the All Blacks beat France by a record 62-13. Retallick played the full 80 minutes of both the semi-final's 20-18 win over South Africa and 31 October 2015 Rugby World Cup final, when the All Blacks beat Australia 34-17, becoming the first international rugby team to win three World Cups.

2016-2018

Retallick was subbed off from the field towards the end of the match in the last Bledisloe Cup test against Australia on 22 October 2016 in Auckland following a concussion caused by Dean Mumm elbowing him. This saw Retallick miss a test against Ireland on the end of year tour that year. The first test against Ireland in Chicago was the only test Retallick missed that year. Retallick returned to test rugby with a solid performance off the bench in the 68-10 win against Italy and returned to his starting position in the second test against Ireland in Dublin on 19 November 2016.

Retallick was selected as one of the 33 players for the All Blacks to face Samoa and the touring British and Irish Lions in 2017. Retallick took over as captain of the All Blacks for the final 20 minutes of the 78-0 thrashing of Samoa following captain Ben Smith being subbed off for debutant Jordie Barrett. Retallick was arguably the best performing New Zealander in the Lions series, dominating the Lions in all three tests of the drawn series.

Prior to being rested for a test against Argentina in Buenos Aires for the 2017 Rugby Championship, Retallick had played every minute of every single All Blacks test in 2017. Retallick has not featured for the All Blacks since the previous fixture, which was a 57-0 win against South Africa, where he scored his fourth test try, because of personal reasons. Patrick Tuipulotu was re-called to the All Blacks following Retallick's personal issues. Scott Barrett has become a regular starter for the All Blacks in Retallick's absence.

Retallick returned to playing rugby for the Chiefs in the 2018 Super Rugby season and returned in great form. Retallick scored the first double of his Super Rugby career on 16 March 2018, returning from an eye injury, to enable a Chiefs comeback to beat the Bulls 41-28. However, Retallick failed to make the field for the All Blacks during the 2018 Steinlager series against France due to a pectoral injury. Highlanders lock Jackson Hemopo was called in as injury cover for Retallick.

Following a series of outstanding performances upon his return to Super Rugby, finishing the competition with 6 tries (second-to-most in the Chiefs for the season), Retallick was re-selected for the All Blacks for the 2018 Rugby Championship. Retallick played his first test of 2018, on 18th August, when the All Blacks beat the Wallabies 38-13 in Sydney. Retallick had a dominant performance which included playing a full 80 minutes, as well as scoring a try in the 51st minute. Retallick won the award for Man of the Match against the Wallabies, making headlines around the world and earning him comparisons to late All Black great, Colin Meads. [8]

Retallick unfortunately only played three tests during the 2018 Rugby Championship, being replaced only 9 minutes into the first test against Argentina, on 8th September 2018. Retallick was replaced by Sam Whitelock, with the All Blacks winning 46-24. Retallick, as well as midfielder Ngani Laumape, missed the rest of the competition, with Retallick missing out to his early shoulder injury suffered against Argentina. Retallick's absence was felt by the team, who suffered a narrow loss to South Africa during the competition. Retallick is expected to be back for the end of year internationals.

Personal life

On 22 November 2014, he won the World Rugby Player of the Year. Retallick married Niki Thompson in 2015 and they have two daughters together. Their second child, a son, was miscarried in 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-03. Rugby Fix
  2. ↑ "Chiefs sign Sam Cane and Brodie Retallick on a two-year deal: Rugby N…". 7 July 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012.
  3. ↑ Bay of Plenty Times
  4. ↑ "New Zealand Rugby Under 20 squad named – New Zealand News UK". www.nznewsuk.co.uk.
  5. ↑ "Brodie Retallick". allblacks.com. NZRU. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  6. ↑ Robson, Toby. "All Blacks lock has an appetite for destruction". stuff.co.nz. Fairfax Media Digital. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  7. ↑ admin_hland. "2014 Steinlager Rugby Awards - Results". rugbyheartland.co.nz. rugbyheartland.co.nz. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  8. ↑ Alex Powell. "Opinion: Sorry Beauden, but Brodie Retallick is the best rugby player on the planet". TVNZ. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
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