Let the fun and games begin. Dave Rennie, freshly-appointed head coach of the All Blacks with a World Cup looming large in his highly educated mind’s eye, appears to be in the mood for a serious discussion on selection policy after identifying Brodie Retallick, one of the stand-out locks of his generation, as a recall target.

Rennie, below, has been working with Kobelco Kobe Steelers in Japan, where Retallick is currently playing the house down, and is therefore more aware than anyone of the man’s continuing value as a scene-stealing, pace-setting, envelope-pushing member of the engine room...