Young All Black flank 'exceptional' says Razor

REACTION: The 21-year-old All Blacks flank Peter Lakai has been praised for his performance against the French after being thrust into the Test off the bench in just the first minute when Samipeni Finau suffered a head knock.

Up until that moment, the inexperienced Lakai only had 30 minutes of Test rugby against Japan under his belt but transitioned smoothly into the side against a global heavyweight.

His coach Scott Robertson called him ‘exceptional’ afterward, saying: “Exceptional, wasn’t he? I’m really looking forward to watching the game back to see him in a little bit more detail.”

Lakai made 13 carries and led his side with a dozen tackles without a single miss.

“I’m really pleased for him. He’s the future as well. There were some great performances out there from a lot of guys,” Robertson told Sky News.

At the post-match press conference, Lakai exclaimed that he was ready for the big Test although it did come much earlier than he had anticipated.

“I was excited, embraced it, I knew I was ready with my detail. As a bench player, you don’t prepare yourself to go on that early but I’m just glad I could go on and the boys helped me,” he told media in Paris following the exhausting 80 minutes.

Cam Roigard is on fire 🔥#AllBlacks pic.twitter.com/4dvlsQox2A

— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) November 16, 2024

It took the young flank just seven minutes to get his name on the scoresheet, scoring the opening try of the game.

“It felt good, but full credit to Ardie, he probably broke about four tackles in the lead-up and I was in the right place at the right time,” Lakai said, reflecting on his first try for the All Blacks.

“The French pack, they’re big and physical. I just wanted to get my hands on the ball early and put a bit of feet on and put my head down and try and get underneath them. That was my main goal coming into the game, get my hands on the ball.”

Playing in front of an 80,000-strong Parisian crowd was something that made an impression on him.

“Yeah, I’ll take a bit of confidence from that. 79 minutes, the flow of the game was quite quick in the first half and once I got my second wind I was into things. I was comfortable out there which was good.”

Playing alongside Ardi Savea, a childhood hero, was special.

“It’s always unreal to take the field with Ardie. My first year in the Canes last year, he was there, so when I came on Ardie just made me feel comfortable out there with his leadership and his voice. The whole forward pack and everyone in the team just back each other and give each other confidence to go out there and do a job.”

Additional source @RugbyPass