Sam Whitelock

The first of which was a 26–16 win over England where he was replaced by Anthony Boric in the 66th minute and the second of which was a start against Scotland in a 49–3 win where he played for the full 80 minutes.

Whitelock scored his third test try the following week in a 38-18 win over Ireland.

Samuel Lawrence Whitelock (born 12 October 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for Pau in the Top 14 competition.

Whitelock was part of the world championship winning team, the Baby All Blacks, at the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship.

He played 5 games, scoring a try against Argentina.

Whitelock made his Air New Zealand Cup debut for Canterbury in 2008 against Wellington.

Whitelock has played over 100 tests for New Zealand since his debut in 2010 and is the youngest New Zealander to reach 100 tests.

He is the fastest player ever to reach 100 international appearances, achieving the feat eight years and two months after his test debut.

His Super Rugby debut for the Crusaders was against The Highlanders in the 2010 Super 14 season.

In 2010 he was selected into the All Blacks team for the 2010 mid-year rugby test series.

He made his debut replacing Brad Thorn off the bench, against Ireland, and scored 2 tries.

Whitelock played ten tests in 2010 and has never missed a team naming for the team since his debut, earning two starts on the end of year tour.

He was a key member of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning teams, becoming one of only 43 players who have won the Rugby World Cup more than once.

After five appearances prior to the World Cup in 2011, he was selected into New Zealand's 30-man World Cup Squad and after starting in the second pool game against Japan which was an 83–7 win for New Zealand, he went on to hold this position for the rest of the World Cup, including the All Blacks' 8–7 win over France at Eden Park on 23 October, which saw them win the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

He has formed a renowned locking combination with Brodie Retallick; Whitelock and Retallick have played 50 tests together since 2012.

Whitelock cemented his place as a regular starter for the All Blacks in 2012 and started in 13 of their 14 tests, only coming on as a replacement against Italy in Rome during a 42–10 win that year.

Whitelock scored the fourth try of his test career in the 32-16 win over South Africa in the Rugby Championship, scoring the opening try for the All Blacks 25 minutes into the test.

After re-committing to New Zealand Rugby for another four years in 2013, Whitelock and Brodie Retallick became a World-Class locking combination and started together eight times in 2013, with Whitelock playing in 12 of the All Blacks' 14 tests in 2013.

Whitelock was only subbed off twice the All Blacks' unbeaten year, in tests against France, Australia and Argentina.

He also played his 50th test in the 30–22 win over England on the 2013 end-of-year tour, but this was unfortunately overshadowed by the fact that 2005 and 2012 World Rugby Player of the Year-winning Crusaders teammate Dan Carter had been subbed off in the 25th minute of that match which was Carter's 100th.

Whitelock started in all three tests in the 2014 England rugby union tour of New Zealand with the All Blacks winning all three matches against England.

Whitelock had another solid year in the black jersey, playing in a further eight tests that year.

Whitelock carried this form into the 2015 Super Rugby season after the off-season, making rugby headlines after scoring a 60m solo try in a Super Rugby fixture against the Reds.

Whitelock was selected for his second Rugby World Cup that year.

Whitelock played in every single All Blacks test in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, including the full 80 minutes of the three knockout rounds.

The 34–17 win over Australia in the World Cup Final meant Whitelock would become one of 21 players to win a Rugby World Cup title multiple times.

Whitelock made his 100th appearance for the Crusaders in 2016, scoring the opening try of their 85-26 thrashing of the Melbourne Rebels.

After missing the first test against Wales due to injury in 2016, Whitelock returned to action in the second test of the Wales series, putting in another 80-minute performance.

He became the most-capped All Blacks lock in 2016 making 11 appearances that year including one off the bench in a 36–17 win over Argentina on 1 October, surpassing the now-retired Ian Jones' 79 tests as an All Blacks lock.

Whitelock missed Ireland's 40-29 victory over New Zealand in that year's end-of-season tour due to injury, allowing Crusaders teammate Scott Barrett to make his debut, returning from his calf strain to face Ireland in a 21–9 win.

Whitelock was one of the best performing players in the final test of 2016, which was a 24-19 scare from France, with the All Blacks going on to win 13 of their 14 tests that year.

Whitelock was nominated for the best New Zealand Player of the Year at the 2016 NZ Rugby Awards alongside teammates Dane Coles and Beauden Barrett being the other nominees.

Whitelock and Coles lost the award to Barrett.

Whitelock was the winner of New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year in 2017.

Whitelock has become an established member of the Crusaders and New Zealand leadership groups in recent years, with new Crusaders coach Scott Robertson naming Whitelock as the captain of the franchise for 2017.

Whitelock had an outstanding Super Rugby campaign in 2017 with the exception of a two-week suspension for striking Cheetahs prop Charles Marais.

Whitelock was also yellow-carded for doing so that match.

Whitelock captained the Crusaders in the historic fixture against the touring British & Irish Lions side in 2017, producing an 80-minute performance in the Crusaders' disappointing 3–12 loss to the Lions.

Whitelock was selected for the All Blacks' 33-man squad for the 2017 Pasifika Challenge against Samoa and three-test series against the British & Irish Lions.

Whitelock started in all four of those matches but had his performance in the Lions series overshadowed by Brodie Retallick and the Lions' youngest player, English lock Maro Itoje who had started for the Lions twice in the test series.