England v New Zealand Profile of Chris Jack: Graham Henry, not a man prone to flights of fancy, once said that Chris Jack could one day be as influential for the All Blacks as Martin Johnson was for England. The New Zealand coach's prediction is beginning to ring true. This year Jack has been the dominant lock forward in the world.
Picking the 27-year-old Canterbury Crusader for tomorrow's meeting with England at Twickenham would have been one of the easier tasks for Henry when the coach undertook the difficult job of casting off players who had helped destroy Wales and Ireland in successive weekends.
Jack was the man of the match when he helped annihilate the Welsh lineout but the apogee for the 6ft 7in secondrow came last June on a stormy night in Christchurch when he helped leave the Lions lineout jumpers rooted to the spot.
Throughout that series the attention focused on the more glamorous figures in this All Blacks side, Dan Carter and Richie McCaw, but Jack is its heartbeat and in Christchurch he and his fellow lock Ali Williams gave a masterclass in lineout play in the most atrocious of conditions. Their effort undermined the Lions' supposed forward supremacy from the start of the series.
Andrew Slack, the former Australia captain, once talked of the "quiet ruthlessness" of the All Blacks. Jack somehow epitomises the strong, silent type. When he was handed his man-of-the-match award after the Christchurch Test he looked totally embarrassed in an "Aw, shucks, I'm just out there doing my job" sort of way.
In this week of allegations of spying at the New Zealand training camp, Jack is as wary of the fourth estate as Henry is of fifth columnists lurking in the bushes. He gives little away on the pitch and little off it.
"Being compared to Martin Johnson, well that's flattering, but I'm a different player to Martin Johnson," he said between training sessions. "He was a good, strong scrummager, a mauler, a dominant player in the tight. I'm a bit of a looser sort of player and do a little more around the field."
Jack is right. Johnson was a formidable athlete but not prone to extravagant play and popping up at the end of back moves with some little bit of ball-juggling skill like the New Zealander. But Jack, as the Lions series showed, is not a stranger to the hard graft of secondrow play. He is a worthy heir to a line of great All Black locks such as Colin Meads, Andy Haden and Ian Jones.
Tomorrow is his first Test at Twickenham. "I don't think you can read too much into the Lions tour. The Lions were a side trying to combine four teams and that's never easy. England will present us with a whole set of problems. They have a strong scrum and they drive a lot from lineouts. You saw what they did to Australia and they will offer us a totally different challenge.
"I've not played against (Steve) Borthwick but I know Danny Grewcock's game pretty well. Grewcock sees himself as an intimidator. He's very strong and physical. It'll be a very tough Test match but I'm not feeling the pressure. I'm excited. I've only ever played at Twickenham once and that was for a New Zealand Under-19 side. I think it was against a South-East Counties side in a warm-up to a South Africa Test. Our coach got stuck in traffic and we only got to the ground 15 minutes before kick-off.
"I expect there'll be a few more people in Twickenham this weekend and I'm looking forward to it. We're playing some good rugby and expressing ourselves on the pitch and I'm building a good partnership with Ali Williams. We seem to complement each other's styles well."
As his special influences Jack cites Wayne Shelford ("an inspirational figure") and another lock, Robin Brooke, both players he admired when he grew up in Canterbury, a member of a rugby-loving family with his brothers and one-time team-mates Graham and Richard.
He made his debut four years ago as a replacement for Jerry Collins in a Test against Argentina at Christchurch and, typically, scored within 11 minutes of being on the pitch. "I took another inside pass from Justin Marshall and went over. It was a tough day, unforgettable."
Aaron Mauger, Jack's team-mate at the Crusaders and New Zealand, also made his Test bow in 2001. The centre blows a trumpet for his friend. "I've grown up with him and seen him mature into a major player and he's at the top of his game right now. You can't overestimate what he brings to the side - sometimes little things that aren't obvious, such as a steal at a lineout at a crucial time. Is he the best lock in the world? Well, he's got to be up there with the likes of Victor Matfield and I wouldn't swap him for anyone."
Guardian Service
