His entry and exit from another Bledisloe Cup win was typical Tony Woodcock.

The All Blacks prop had avoided hype around his 100th Test all week and that carried into the 27-16 win over the Wallabies in Wellington on Saturday.

Asked by captain Richie McCaw to lead the team out, Woodcock politely declined.

And when he was replaced by Wyatt Crockett in the 61st minute, most of the crowd had their attention elsewhere, meaning the 32-year-old was barely acknowledged as he walked off.

Coach Steve Hansen says it typified the career of the quietly spoken farmer from north of Auckland, who becomes the fourth All Blacks centurion after McCaw, Mils Muliaina and Keven Mealamu.

“He didn’t want any fuss or bother before the game but he thoroughly deserves it,” Hansen said.

“It’s no mean feat to play one game for the All Blacks, let alone 100.

“He’s done it with a lot of class for a long time and I thought we saw him at his best again tonight.”

McCaw, who presented Woodcock with a silver cap after fulltime, said it was a comfort going into any Test to have the North Harbour stalwart playing as it inevitably meant a solid All Blacks scrum performance.

It was more than solid on Saturday as New Zealand got on top of the Wallabies in the second half scrum contest, something Hansen said was pivotal to the result.

Woodcock said reaching the milestone in his 12th season of Test rugby hadn’t sunk in immediately after the game.

“To think eight years ago, Shag (Hansen) said to me `if you do things right, you’ll be a hundred-Test All Black.

“I didn’t believe him, so cheers for that Shag.”