Injury and the All Blacks’ reconditioning programme of 2007 brought an end to the two-year run of 28 consecutive appearances gathered in the Crusaders front-row by Greg Somerville. The Hawke’s Bay-raised tighthead prop became the fourth man to play a century of matches for the Crusaders in the 2006 Super 14 semi-final victory over the Bulls. Somerville made his debut for Canterbury in an NPC semi-final in 1998, was a Crusader the following season, and an All Black within two years of his first representative appearance. The popular front-rower has also increased his strategic value during latter years, by virtue of a successful transformation from the tighthead to the loosehead position. Somerville’s return to the All Black World Cup squad, after missing a year of rugby due to Achilles tendon trouble, allowed him to add two further Test caps to his record.