More injury blows for Chiefs early in season
The rough injury luck just doesn’t stop for the Chiefs, with Mitchell Brown and the uncapped Fin Hoeata the latest victims.
The two forwards were on Monday both ruled out of the rest of the Super Rugby season, just to add more headaches for the coaching staff.
Brown, the 24-year-old loose forward/lock, ruptured the ACL in his right knee in Friday night’s 41-28 victory over the Bulls in Hamilton, and will undergo surgery, expected to be out of action for between six to nine months.
After joining the franchise as an injury replacement in 2016, Brown made progress last year, and had proved a more than handy option in the second row, where the Chiefs had already had their injury woes.
On that front, lock Fin Hoeata has also been ruled out for the campaign, after the shoulder he injured during a training now requires surgery, with a six-to-nine-month return to play timeframe for him as well.
The Chiefs had already lost prop Atu Moli (quad haematoma) and utility back Tim Nanai-Williams (shoulder) for the year, and are still nursing a large contingent in the casualty ward, as they prepare to face the Sunwolves in Tokyo on Saturday. Assistant coach Tabai Matson said the bad injury luck was just that, and that everyone was taking the blows in their strides. ‘‘I think we just keep calm and kind of carry on,’’ he said, adding that they were currently going through decisions around who they might bring in as replacements.
Lock Dominic Bird is still weighing up options with the specialist after injuring his shoulder in the season-opening game against the Crusaders, so it leaves Brodie Retallick and Michael Allardice as the only specialist locks, but Tyler Ardron and Taleni Seu could also slip in there.
Meanwhile, outside back Shaun Stevenson has undergone surgery on the knee he injured in the warmup to the match against the Blues on March 2, and is expected to be back playing in four to six weeks.
Charlie Ngatai was expected to return against the Highlanders..