Greatest All Blacks XV (pro era) - locks

[Lizard]

4 & 5 are possibly the last positions in rugby to specialise from each other, alongside 11 and 14 perhaps. I think most would agree that ideally you need two different types of lock but I don't believe a specific type is a "4" or a "5". So we will do both at once. You can pick two players in this poll. Accordingly there's a double length shortlist.

It breaks my heart not to vote for Big Bad Brad in this but despite his incredible power, work ethic and longevity, his all round skill level is eclipsed by Brodie. Alongside him I'm going for Ian Jones, although he's hard to seperate from Whitelock and Williams.

[Spiffy]

4 & 5 are possibly the last positions in rugby to specialise from each other, alongside 11 and 14 perhaps. I think most would agree that ideally you need two different types of lock but I don't believe a specific type is a "4" or a "5". So we will do both at once. You can pick two players in this poll. Accordingly there's a double length shortlist.

It breaks my heart not to vote for Big Bad Brad in this but despite his incredible power, work ethic and longevity, his all round skill level is eclipsed by Brodie. Alongside him I'm going for Ian Jones, although he's hard to seperate from Whitelock and Williams.

Jones was a great player of his era, but at under 16.5 st. lacks a lot of ballast. I'd go for Retallick, who can do everything, plus hard man Thorn.
(At one point of his career, before his second coming to RU, Thorn was regularly dissed on these boards. And no - I am not mixing him up with Reuben Thorne.)

[Spy]

I like our current locking combination. There's a few good options here, but Retallick and Whitelock are as good a combination the AB's have had, as I far as I can remember. Better than Jones/Brooke, who were themselves excellent, and overall better than Williams/Thorn. Winning lineouts, grunty in the tight, and running and handling like backs, without the error-prone flashiness of Ali. We're lucky to have them.

[Len]

Retallick and Whitelock. Freakish atheletes.