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2020 vision for Whitelock and the All Blacks

By
New Zealand lock Sam Whitelock

New Zealand second row Sam Whitelock has committed his future to the All Blacks, signing a deal through to 2020.

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The 28-year-old, capped 84 times by his country, made his All Blacks debut in 2010 and was a key member of their World Cup winning squads in 2011 and 2015.

The Crusaders captain is 11th on the list of All Blacks appearance-makers, as well as being the most capped lock in New Zealand history.

“When I considered whether my immediate playing future was here in New Zealand and Christchurch, I didn’t need to look far for the answer,” he said.

“My wife Hannah and I have recently welcomed a new addition to our family, I am still genuinely excited to be playing rugby for these teams and I feel like there is still plenty more to achieve.

“There is more than enough to motivate me to keep playing and performing for these teams, so I am thrilled and honoured to have re-signed with New Zealand Rugby, the BNZ Crusaders and Canterbury Rugby through to 2020.”

Coach Steve Hansen named Whitelock in the starting XV in every World Cup game in 2015 and he was pleased to see the forward sign an extension on his contract.

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“On behalf of New Zealand Rugby, as well as all New Zealand rugby fans, I want to congratulate Sam and his wife Hannah on his decision,” said Hansen.

“He’s a world-class lock and together with Brodie Retallick forms one of the best international locking partnerships in world rugby at present.

“Sam is also great contributor to our environment: he thinks a lot about the game, is a flexible thinker, leads very well within the group and has become a very, very important component in the All Blacks.

“Once again, it’s great to have another one of our key men re-sign with New Zealand Rugby.”

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f
fl 14 minutes ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“Why do you downplay his later career, post 50? He won a treble less than two years ago, with a club who played more games and won more games than any other team that managed the same feat. His crowning achievement - by his own admission.”

He’s won many trebles in his career - why do you only care about one of them?

I think its unsurprising that he’d feel more emotional about his recent achievements, but its less clear why you do.


“Is it FA cups or League cups you’re forgetting in his English trophy haul? You haven’t made that clear…”

It actually was clear, if you knew the number he had won of each, but I was ignoring the league cup, because Germany and Spain only have one cup competition so it isn’t possible to compare league cup performance with City to his performance with Bayern and Barcelona.


“With Barcelona he won 14 trophies. With Bayern Munich he won 5 trophies. With City he has currently won 18 trophies…”

I can count, but clearly you can’t divide! He was at Barca for 4 years, so that’s 3.5 trophies per year. He was at Bayern for 3 years, and actually won 7 trophies so that’s 2.3 trophies per year. He has been at City for 8 completed seasons so that’s 2.25 trophies per year. If in his 9th season (this one) he wins both the FA cup and the FIFA club world cup that will take his total to 20 for an average of 2.22 trophies per year.


To be clear - you said that Pep had gotten better with age by every metric. In fact by most metrics he has gotten worse!

182 Go to comments
f
fl 2 hours ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“He made history beyond the age of 50. History.”

He made history before the age of 50, why are you so keen to downplay Pep’s early career achievements? In 2009 he won the sextuple. No other manager in history had achieved that, and Pep hasn’t achieved it since, but here you are jizzing your pants over a couple of CL finals.


“If continuing to break records and achieve trophies isn't a metric for success”

Achieving trophies is a metric for success, and Pep wins fewer trophies as he gets older.


“He's still competing for a major trophy this year. Should he get it, it would be 8 consecutive seasons with a major trophy. Then the world club cup in the summer.”

You’re cherry picking some quite odd stats now. In Pep’s first 8 seasons as a manager he won 6 league titles, 2 CL titles, & 4 cup titles. In Pep’s last 8 seasons as a manager (including this one) he’s won 6 league titles, 1 CL title, & 2 (or possibly 3) cup titles. In his first 8 seasons he won the FIFA world club cup 3 times; in his last 8 seasons he’s won it 1 (or possibly soon to be 2) time(s). In his first 8 seasons he won the UEFA super cup 3 times; in his last 8 he won the UEFA super cup once. His record over the past 8 seasons has been amazing - but it is a step down from his record in his first 8 seasons, and winning the FA cup and FIFA club world cup this summer won’t change that.


Pep is still a brilliant manager. He will probably remain a brilliant manager for many years to come, but you seem to want to forget how incredible he was when he first broke through. To be clear - you said that Pep had gotten better with age by every metric. That was false!

182 Go to comments
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