ROBBIE DEANS turned away from New Zealand rugby union as the Super 14's most successful coach, and now Greg Somerville, his right-hand man of a decade of scrums and silverware with the Crusaders, is preparing for some northern exposure.
There have been greater New Zealand Test tight-heads than the 30-year-old warrior from Wairoa, props of pure strength and technique such as Olo Brown and Carl Hayman, but none served his province and country more reliably than Somerville.
Mild of manner, uncomplaining of his front-row fate of banging heads and grating cauliflower ears with rugby's most powerful men, the 115-kilogram prop will leave New Zealand satisfied he became the most valuable player in the Super 14 competition. Others received richer contracts, flashier cars, more perks and lavish publicity, but for durability and dependability, for winter-long hard labour in rugby's darkest pits, none surpassed Somerville.
He was involved in the All Blacks' one-off 101-14 Test rout of Samoa in New Plymouth on Wednesday night, taking his New Zealand record for a prop to 64 Test appearances since his debut in 2000. Somerville emphasised how much focus was on the Wallabies and Brisbane, saying he felt little emotion when wandering off the field to complete his final Test on home soil.
"I suppose it crosses your mind a wee bit but I know there's still a job to do in Aussie so I haven't dwelled on things too much," Somerville told NZPA.
Twice he had World Cup campaigns with all the national agony and ignominy that accompanied the All Blacks' failures of 2003 and 2007. Now, he will be crossing gnarled fingers that he is required for at least the last Test of the Tri Nations series against Australia in Brisbane next Saturday.
A tour of Europe is to follow, but Somerville has yet to finalise his future with head coach Graham Henry and forwards coach Steve Hansen to establish whether the time is opportune for a younger prop to step forward with Auckland's John Afoa for the All Blacks.
Unless the New Zealand Rugby Union changes its policy about offshore players, the Wallabies Test at Suncorp Stadium could well provide Somerville with his swan song for the All Blacks. He is deserving of any reward he receives when he begins his 2½-year contract with the wealthy English club Gloucester.
Kees Meeuws, one of Somerville's predecessors in the Test front row, left New Zealand after the failed World Cup bid in 2003, to join French club Castres. Ultimately, he moved on to be pursued by several well-heeled European clubs, Harlequins reportedly offering $277,000 a year for his signature. Meeuws rejected the offers and signed with another French club, Agen, for $427,000 a year, with house and car, of course.
Top-class props are such a rare commodity that they surpass five-eighths in the financial return sphere. Money specifics have not been revealed in Somerville's move north. Although it is safe to say it promotes him from the salt mine to the gold mine department.
