Canes expect to lose Fatialofa
Milner-skudder in doubt for Lions
It’s not all bright eyes and blue skies for the Hurricanes, despite their late heroics in Auckland on Saturday night extending their Super Rugby win streak to four.
A big-time try double to lock Mark Abbott and a virtuoso display by world player of the year Beauden Barrett provided the headlines to a get-out-of-jail 28-24 victory by the Canes over Tana Umaga’s beleaguered Blues
But there was a price to pay for Chris Boyd’s defending champions who improved to 28 points, and third in the tight Kiwi conference, with their sixth victory from seven matches this season.
Lock Michael Fatialofa picked up a serious knee injury early in the contest, and Boyd admitted afterwards he was resigned to his regular second-row starter facing an extended period on the sidelines.
‘‘It doesn’t look good,’’ Boyd said. ‘‘We’ll have to wait and see what the medical staff come up with, but he’s pretty sore. It’s either a kneecap or ligament − either way it doesn’t look great.
‘‘We’ve already got Sam Lousi dinged in that space, and James Blackwell to come back. We’re getting a little thin but we’re still OK.’’
Vaea Fifita’s return off the bench on Saturday night from an ankle injury sustained at the Hurricanes star Nehe Milnerskudder is in danger of missing the All Blacks’ series against the British and Irish Lions as he struggles to overcome a foot injury.
Milner-skudder has played little rugby since bursting onto the scene in 2015, when he was named World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year after playing a starring role in New Zealand’s World Cup triumph.
Having been sidelined for much of last season due to a shoulder
Brisbane Tens is timely, and the talented utility forward shapes as the logical cover in Fatialofa’s likely absence.
Boyd also confirmed he wasn’t anticipating All Black hooker Dane Coles returning from his calf injury this week to face the Brumbies in their shortturnaround clash against the Brumbies in Napier on Friday.
Boyd admitted to relief they were able to get away with a fifth straight victory over the Blues, especially after trailing 24-21 into the last 10 minutes of the match.
‘‘It was a win, and we’re delighted with that. The management group have been nervous this week because we know the Blues are full of good players and they had their backs to the wall. I injury, Milner-skudder fractured his foot against the Chiefs last month and Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd said complications with his recovery will leave him with little time to push his claims for national selection.
‘‘It’s one of those ones that he’s worked incredibly hard to keep fit and strong and healthy in other ways, but he’s got a wound that’s not helping him at the moment,’’ Boyd said.
‘‘Whether that’s the preparation
thought they were a little unlucky last week against the Highlanders, and we knew it was going to be a hell of a contest and could have gone either way.’’
To the Canes’ credit they were clutch at the end after falling behind. Barrett, who left his imprint all over the game with a spectacular performance, made the chip-and-gather beak that took them hot on to attack, and from there the champs showed the patience and poise to work the phases, and eventually put Abbott over wide on the right.
‘‘We’re a bit smaller, but the thing we can expect from our guys is they’ll work for 80 minutes,’’ added Boyd. ‘‘We always felt if it got close as the game went on, if we kept our workrate and intensity up that the All Blacks want for that, it depends what sort of back three they’re looking for and who else is fit, because there have been a couple of dings in that space.
‘‘I think [Milner-skudder] will be available, but he won’t have played a whole lot of rugby.’’
Milner-skudder was initially ruled out for six weeks and Boyd was unsure if he would be available for the round 11 match against the Stormers on May 5.
we might get some crumbs at the end.
‘‘I can’t remember the last time we had to come back from being down to win − certainly not this year. We’re really chuffed because when we went behind the boys were very calm, very collected and very forward focused about what they needed to do.’’
Of course having Barrett running the show helped. He scored one try when he seized on an Augustine Pulu-sonny Bill Williams miscue and dashed 50-odd metres. He also created at least two other scores with his ability to run through holes and outpace defenders, which he did all too regularly against a Blues side that had no answer to his instinctive brilliance.