Richard Williams, of the Guardian, previews Sunday's World Cup semi-final.
"Anyone seeking evidence that the All Blacks are capable of ending a 24-year wait to proclaim themselves champions of the world once again could do worse than take a stroll around Brad Thorn, who will play his final matches in the Rugby World Cup over the next few days.
At 36 years old, standing 6ft 5in and weighing in at a couple of pounds over 18 stone, the lock appears to have been hewn from the same batch of timber that produced the great Brian Lochore, New Zealand's captain in the 1960s, and his equally distinguished successor, Colin "Pinetree" Meads. These are totems of All Black rugby: impassive, raw-boned men who give the impression of having been reared in a remote region of a remote country, where self-sufficiency is the priority and words are not to be wasted."
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