Sam Whitelock's 153-test All Blacks career may yet have another chapter

Whitelock, the first man to play three World Cup finals, has been approached by All Blacks coach Scott Robertson to make a comeback from French club Pau and join his squad this year.

The New Zealand Herald reports Whitelock is considering returning to New Zealand after a compelling sales pitch from Robertson who was recently in Europe and Japan.

Whitelock has an option in his favour to decide whether to stay at Pau for a second season or come back.

It's not clear when Whitelock would make a decision - but Robertson and his coaching team believe that he could eke out at least one more test season, possibly two, where he would be in contention to start each test.