Sam Whitelock continued his historic Rugby World Cup campaign in the All Blacks‘ 73-0 win over Uruguay, becoming the first All Black to play 150 Tests and the first player ever to play 23 Rugby World Cup games.
The 34-year-old is attending his fourth World Cup, having lifted the Webb Ellis Cup twice already, in 2011 and 2015. Whitelock played all seven games in each of those campaigns.
The lock became the fastest All Black to reach 100 Test caps, 2989 days after his 2010 debut against Ireland. Having now qualified for the quarter-finals, Whitelock may have one last crack at his debut opponents if the standings are to stay as they are over the weekend.
Having surpassed Richie McCaw’s record of 148 Tests last weekend, Whitelock again fronted media after another big win and spoke of his storied journey.
“The last few weeks, to be able to draw alongside Richie with the most caps, and then go past him, then the next week being 150, it’s kind of been drawn out a little bit but I wouldn’t change it for anything,” he told media.
“It’s really cool just being able to go out and play another one because it is so special. We’ve been talking about, some of the guys have said, to play one is a lot of people’s dream and being able to go out there and play 150 is so special.
“The work that’s gone into it, I don’t think people realise. I don’t think myself, I’ll realise until I actually stop and have a think.
“Rugby players, and I think I’m the same, we’re always looking forward to the next week. Even now, looking forward to what the next couple of days look like, with recovery and stuff.
“I think when rugby’s all done and dusted in a few years’ time, it’ll definitely sink in whereas at the moment, it doesn’t feel like we’ve actually got there but that’s just the weird feeling at the moment.”
Wearing special boots with his achievement, family, and country printed on the side – although they were wrapped up due to an achilles injury – Whitelock had his teammates on his mind when thinking of any celebrations the night may hold.
“I think Tamaiti Willams scored his first try as an All Black so we’ll get around him and celebrate some of those things as well.”
In all three of his previous World Cups, the veteran had ensured the All Blacks’ perfect record in the pool stages had been maintained. That record ended on opening night in Paris one month ago, but Whitelock was sure to imply it doesn’t detract from the team’s ultimate ambition.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re sitting, as long as you’re in the next round. That’s what everyone wants to do, go out there and win.”
Facing another do-or-die Test in one week’s time, Whitelock is well-rehearsed in the messages his team need to progress, taking things one step at a time.
“Every World Cup’s totally different and everyone’s said that for ages. The best thing is, we’ve got to deal with this one, right now.
“We went out there tonight and got the five points that we needed and I thought at times we were pretty clinical and ruthless but at other times we didn’t play or our skill execution wasn’t where it needed to be.
“So, we’re always trying to adapt and grow our game and once we know who we’re playing, we’ll look into them and make sure that we’ve got the game that we need to go out there and perform.”
