Friday 17 November 2017 10:11, UK
In November 2010, New Zealand travelled to London to take on England in the autumn internationals, with the All Blacks claiming a 26-16 victory on their way to a Grand Slam-winning tour of the home nations.
It was the Test in which Sonny Bill Williams made his international debut, but the game is remembered for different reasons by Joe Rokocoko.
The winger did not have a good game by his own standards, falling foul to a host of basic errors, and was eventually substituted in the 58th minute by coach Graham Henry.
"Sometimes when you try too hard to make up for a mistake, you end up making a worse mistake - I did that five times in a row," Rokocoko told Sky Sports about that afternoon at Twickenham.
"Things rolled on, I went into my shell again, and was almost having flashbacks to my troubles from the previous year.
"Then I got substituted, and something in my gut told me that I was leaving the field for the last time in the black jersey. Something just told me, and I knew. I watched the rest of the game unfold slowly, almost in slow motion.
"The game finished and we went into the changing rooms. I was sitting in my corner, just trying to reflect on how the game had snowballed on me.
"Mils Muliaina came up to me, and said 'You alright mate? Head up', and I said to him 'I think I just played my last game for the All Blacks'."
Rokocoko was only 27 at the time, and four tries away from becoming New Zealand's most prolific try-scorer of all time, but his prediction proved correct.
It was the end of his seven-year career with the All Blacks, a career that saw him dominate on the world stage after making his debut in 2003 - though according to his own account, he didn't get off to the best start.
"The thing that really stands out for me was being late for the first meet-up," says Rokocoko, who was 20 when he was called up.
"We had rooms to ourselves at the hotel, and they told us the time of the first gym session that week. I assumed the gym was close to the hotel but when I got downstairs I found out it was 15 minutes away. I was a young buck and I was panicking - I didn't know what to do.
"I asked reception and they said a taxi might take a while, so I just ran through the street of Wellington all the way to the gym. I eventually arrived to cold looks from all the players."
The former Blues star says the indiscretion did not go unnoticed by the senior players, particularly captain Tana Umaga.
"When we were done at the gym we got a bus back to the hotel, and when the bus stopped Tana stood up and said 'Everyone off the bus - except for Roks'.
"Most of the players left the bus and I walked to the back, waiting for me was Tana, Justin Marshall, Reuben Thorne and Carlos Spencer sitting on the back seat.
"Tana asked me to explain why I was late. I told him, mumbling, what had happened, and he looked at me for ages before finally saying 'I don't want to see you at the back of the bus again'.
"First and last time I was late - after that I think I was always first to team meetings!"
It didn't take long for Rokocoko to make amends. He didn't manage to get on the scoreboard on debut against England in June 2003, and a week later he endured a frustrating first half against Wales which kept him in search of the elusive first try for the All Blacks.
However a calming talk at half-time from then-assistant coach Robbie Deans did the trick, and Rokocoko crossed for two second-half tries against the Welsh. Those scores sparked a run that saw the Fijian-born flyer end 2003 with 17 tries in 12 Test for the All Blacks, with six of those scores coming in the World Cup.
"We were in a good place, and a few of us were playing together at the Blues; with Mils at the back and Dougie (Howlett) there, Carlos (Spencer) running at 10 and Tana creating opportunities for us at centre.
"Super Rugby that year was so open, and we brought it into the All Blacks. As a result our confidence came into the Tests."
However, the high-flying Rokocoko soon found himself a victim of New Zealand's strength in depth. He couldn't replicate his Super Rugby form in 2005, and with the likes of Howlett, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Rico Gear enjoying blistering campaigns themselves, Rokocoko found himself missing out on a place in the squad to take on the British and Irish Lions.
"I remember going to the movies and I had a missed call from Graham (Henry)," Rokocoko said. "It was a week before the team got named and that's never good.
"The message said to go see him at his house - it was like being summoned to the headmaster's office!
"I went and saw him and he started off by making small talk, but it was going in one ear and out the other, I was just waiting for him to get to the point of the meeting.
"Then he told me that he thought I was struggling a bit, and he wanted me to go to the Sevens team to work on my confidence, my one-on-one attack, and to find my enjoyment of rugby again.
"It was hard to hear, but I went out and did it, and when I came back I rejoined the squad for the Tri-Nations."
Rokocoko featured heavily for Henry's All Blacks thereafter, and when 2008 came to a close he had 52 Tests and 43 tries under his belt. In 2009, however, off-field concerns took their toll on the winger's performances.
New Zealand's opening assignment in that year's Tri-Nations was back-to-back games against the Springboks in South Africa, with the All Blacks losing the first Test 28-19 in Bloemfontein.
The next week, as the All Blacks prepared for the Durban Test, Rokocoko received a phone call letting him know that his son had taken ill.
"I had a pretty good build-up during the week, but a few days before the game my boy got very sick in Fiji.
"The doctors were talking about him being on the verge of pneumonia. As a first-time father you're imagining the worst and as a result, my preparation for the game suffered.
"To this day I regret not telling the coaches or medical staff what I was going through, but I thought I would be alright to go through with it. But during the game I was just lost.
"I don't remember how many balls I dropped, but we did a video review in Auckland on the Monday and the tapes showed me just walking on a kick chase. I looked lost."
The All Blacks were defeated by South Africa for the second time in as many weeks, and the New Zealand public - unaware of Rokocoko's distractions - were unforgiving of his dip in form.
The Kiwis beat Australia in Sydney in the next round of the Tri-Nations, but after losing to the Springboks for a third time in the competition, this time on home soil, Rokocoko found himself in the cross hairs once again.
"The public were on my case and it was the first time that I let it get to me," said Rokocoko. "I didn't make the end-of-year tour in 2009, and I had lost a bit of the fun of playing footy.
"At the end of the year I told myself that the next season I would forget about the All Blacks, and just enjoy myself and have fun again.
"As a result, 2010 was one of my best years in Super Rugby. I had taken out all the bad things out of my mind, things were good.
"I made it back into the All Blacks squad and I was happy to be there, it led to a few games and it wasn't too bad, but I think by that stage I was emotionally drained."
The end of 2010 saw Rokocoko feature in only one of four autumn internationals, and when he didn't make the 2011 World Cup squad, he made the decision to take up a contract with Bayonne in the Top 14.
Rokocoko spent four years there before moving to Racing 92, where he has linked up with former team-mates Dan Carter, Anthony Tuitavake, and Casey Laulala, and says playing in France has helped him fall in love with the game again.
"It's enjoyable; you always see familiar faces that you played against in Super Rugby, the ITM Cup or even school days.
"Most people ask what it's like playing in France, and the big thing is we spend more time at home - we are only away for a maximum of two nights. You can imagine in Super Rugby it's a few weeks, especially for those poor South Africans!"
A relaxed Rokocoko is reflective of his time with the All Blacks, and the timing of his departure - even more so when asked about Julian Savea.
Savea's career is currently perched in almost identical fashion to that of Rokocoko's back in 2010; he is 27 years old, and has scored exactly the same number of tries for the All Blacks with 46.
He has recently fallen out of favour with New Zealand, who have a full vault when it comes to riches on the wing, and while Rokocoko is reluctant to push Savea in the direction of fulfilling his international potential, he says if that is the path the 27-year-old chooses, he will have to throw everything at it.
"He has to figure out what is driving him," Rokocoko said. "The good thing is that the coaches have spoken to him and told him what they want, and he's told them what makes him tick and what he's fighting to get.
"It's down to him as a person if he's still keen to kick on and still make a point on the scene and be in the environment. Because that machine doesn't wait for anybody, it just carries on. You're on the bus, then you're off the bus.
"Our life span as wingers in New Zealand is really short, they're always coming out the woodwork so you've got to be on your toes.
"You may be Julian Savea, Jonah Lomu or Jeff Wilson, you can be doing your thing and someone comes along and does it better or flashier, then he's the next big thing.
"That jersey isn't ours - we're just caretakers. You try to take care of it, then someone comes after you to take over, to take on the burden and to carry that jersey forward."
As a result of his invigorated enjoyment of the game, 34-year-old Rokocoko has no designs to retire just yet, hoping to soak up as much rugby as possible before finally saying goodbye to the game that has given him so much.
"I'm feeling good but the old grey hairs are telling me otherwise," he says, laughing. "It takes a while to get going in the mornings with these -1 temperatures, but I'm feeling fresh mentally.
"I'm blessed here, the coaches look after the older boys. They give me some games, and then rest me for some games which helps.
"I know this game's not for life, so I might as well live it to the fullest before heading for the horizon to sit under a coconut tree in Fiji."
