Ethan Blackadder isn't letting himself get too comfortable.
The 26-year-old has established himself as one of the country's brightest young loose forward talents, impressing at every level of the professional game. Most recently, he has made his mark at test level for the All Blacks with his high work rate and seemingly unlimited gas tank.
Blackadder will make his fourth test start – and eighth appearance – in the black jersey against Wales on Sunday morning, and said while he was settling in to test football nicely, he wouldn't describe his feeling as one of comfort.
"You still have to get the weeks right and be on your toes," Blackadder explained. "There's a lot of good competition here and you're never guaranteed the jersey. I enjoy every week we have and, picked or not, you've always got a role. So to be playing this weekend, it's unreal. I can't wait.
"It's always a real buzz because you just never know if you're getting named or not. So when you hear your name, it's like 'wowee'. It's pretty awesome. Every time your name gets read out is such a buzz."
Blackadder will be part of a rather mobile loose trio against Wales, with Dalton Papalii getting the start at openside and Ardie Savea packing down at the back of the scrum, while Akira Ioane provides cover on the bench.
While neither Blackadder nor Savea played in the side's crushing win over the United States last weekend, they impressed during their opportunities in the successful Rugby Championship campaign. Papalii, who missed the majority of the Rugby Championship due to injury, enjoyed a strong return against the USA last week and was rewarded with another start.
"We've been really delighted with Ethan and the way he's progressing, and we felt he warranted a start," All Blacks coach Ian Foster said. "He's filled a number of roles for us but it's a chance to really go out there and focus on his role at six.
"Dalton missed quite a bit of the Rugby Championship, came back through the States game last week and, again, he played really well at the start of the Rugby Championship and we felt he deserved a start here."
Reflecting on the Rugby Championship tournament, Blackadder said it was a good learning curve for him heading into the tour of the Northern Hemisphere, particularly the tests against South Africa who play a similar brand of rugby to the nations in the north.
