Howlett homes in on record try count

NOT TOO long ago, things weren’t looking good for Doug Howlett. Though long established on the All-Blacks side, when Graham Henry picked a squad to go on a reconditioning programme — a squad seen as a definite World Cup indicator — Doug was a shock omission. Few were more surprised than the man himself.

“Obviously I was taken aback initially, it was quite tough to swallow, but you can turn it around; that gave me a Super 14 window, six games before the All-Blacks came back, where I was playing to stake a claim for an All-Blacks spot.”

He was given an explanation, but it seemed more like a pay-off line. “They just decided that Joe and Sitiveni (Rokocoko and Sivivatu, Fijian-born cousins, the other All-Black wings) would benefit more from the conditioning; they felt I was at a good level of fitness, didn’t need the conditioning.”