The robust lock made his debut in the 36-3 win over England in June 2004 and has not looked back since.

Despite the modest tally of Test caps, Gibbes exudes experience and is enjoying his third season as captain of the Chiefs.

He is one of the world's finest line-out forwards and a stout defender who is quickly making up for lost time after having the early part of his career blighted by injury.

He captained Waikato in the latter stages of the NPC last year and was named in the All Blacks squad that toured Europe, although injury kept him from taking the field.

Gibbes, who began his career on the side of the scrum, made the New Zealand Under-21s for two straight seasons in 1997 and 1998 but didn't make his representative debut for Waikato until 2000 due to an unfortunate run of injuries.

He appeared for New Zealand Maori on the 2002 tour of Australia, playing in all three tour matches including the international against the Wallabies at Perth.

He was appointed New Zealand Maori captain in 2003 and led the team against Tonga but was then forced to miss the match against England and the tour of Canada due to a knee injury.