Williams adds to growing All Blacks injury count
French coach Jacques Brunel can add Sonny Bill Williams to the growing list of All Blacks who won’t cause him any bother in June.
Yesterday, the All Blacks announced midfielder Williams had been rubbed out of the upcoming three-test series against France because he had aggravated ‘‘an old knee injury’’ at the national camp in Christchurch.
A statement released by the All Blacks noted Blues medical staff said an X-ray had showed a loose piece of bone in Williams’ knee joint, which required him to undergo keyhole surgery in Auckland.
The 32 year old is not expected to be able to train for around four weeks, meaning he’s no chance of adding to his 46 tests in the test series which begins in Auckland next Saturday.
The injuries to Crusaders loosehead prop Tim Perry, who pinged a hamstring at the first camp, and Williams reinforces the need for a solution to how players can be better managed prior to the domestic tests. Because, clearly, none of this is ideal for anyone.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says he doesn’t want camps during Super Rugby, arguing he has been compromised by a competition structure that doesn’t allow time for his squad to prepare prior to the tests; he also notes that it was the chief executives of the New Zealand teams that settled on the dates for the camps.
What all parties agree upon is this: that it has been messy and is far from ideal.
Brunel, who arrived in the country with the bulk of the French squad this week, can now compile a list of broken All Blacks who have been invalided out of the series.
Captain and No 8 Kieran Read is still recovering from surgery on his spine, hooker Dane Coles recently required another operation on the knee he injured against France in Paris on November 11 and loosehead prop Kane Hames hasn’t played Super Rugby due to concussion.
Tighthead prop Nepo Laulala, a team-mate of Hames, was unavailable for national selection after fracturing the bone in his forearm in early March.
It is sobering to think that of the 15 men who started that test against Les Bleus at Stade de France, at least five will not participate in the upcoming series because of their injuries.
But, wait, there’s more. A number of others who played the French in Paris are in doubt for the first test.
Lock Sam Whitelock, who was promoted to captain in place of the unavailable Read, has not played for the Crusaders since May 12 because of concussion while midfielder Ryan Crotty failed an HIA the following weekend and has not been sighted since.
If Whitelock is scratched from the first test, openside flanker Sam Cane, who is the All Blacks’ joint vice-captain with Ben Smith, could be elevated to the skipper’s role.
But that could hinge on whether Cane emerges unscathed from his duties with the Chiefs; he has not played for five weeks because of an abdominal strain and has been named on the bench for the match against the Crusaders.
Add Vaea Fifita, who started at blindside flanker at Stade de France, to this list. He has been nursing a sore shoulder and was bracketed on the Hurricanes bench for the game against the Highlanders last night.
Then there is the issue of several players being seriously undercooked. Loosehead prop Joe Moody will make his just his second appearance for the Crusaders in Hamilton because of injury and suspension, while fellow prop Owen Franks has played just four games for the same reason.
But they should be fit and available for the first test. They, at least, can give Brunel something to worry about.