“Geez, how long you got?”
That was the stark response from veteran Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau when asked how to stop All Blacks superstar Brodie Retallick, who was dubbed “big bad Brodie” by some of the Australian media.
Retallick was virtually unstoppable in the opening Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney, wreaking havoc in the lineout and breakdown and even throwing a dummy on his way to a long-range try.
Such was the quality of Retallick’s performance that Polota-Nau was momentarily stumped when asked about him.
“Great player, you just have to make sure that we win the race, cause he’s quite quick for a tall lock, especially at the breakdown, he’s a menace,” he said, eventually.
“We just have to proactive there in terms of winning the race to the breakdown to stop his long levers.”
Polota-Nau said the game plan would be relatively similar after the 38-13 loss in Sydney, and it was a case of reducing mental errors.
“I think if we can maintain the pressure that we had on them (in the first half) throughout the full 80 minutes, it would probably be a different ball game.”
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