Chiefs endure further blows
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 yesterday 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, will undergo surgery, and is expected to be out of action for between six to nine months.
After joining the franchise as an injury replacement in 2016, Brown made fine 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 Hoeata has also been ruled out for the campaign, after the shoulder he injured during training now requiring 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.
Newly-instated fullback Charlie Ngatai was again running in straight lines at training yesterday, with a likely return against the Highlanders on March 30 following his knee injury against the Crusaders, and All Blacks prop Kane Hames will again be absent this weekend with the ‘mystery illness’ he’s dealing with.
‘‘The cavalry seems to be two hills away, they’re kind of not waiting to come over the hill, they’re kind of a little bit in the distance,’’ Matson said.
‘‘There’s no excuses at this level [though], that’s for sure. And for us, we’ve been really happy with the way everybody who’s stepped into the breach has done.’’
After being made to work hard for their win over the Bulls, then seeing the Sunwolves impress in a 40-38 loss to a reshuffled Lions in Johannesburg, the Chiefs will jet to Japan tomorrow knowing full well they won’t be able to take the hosts lightly.
‘‘We don’t make any assumptions about them being a banana skin or any of that rubbish,’’ Matson said.
‘‘I think people remember the previous Sunwolves that were easy beats, and that is far from the truth.
‘‘They are well organised, and they will definitely be looking forward to this challenge, first one at home for them in a couple of weeks. So we’re not surprised by those scores and their ability to score tries.’’