All Blacks sweat on availability of skipper
Battered bodies leave selectors in a quandary as Reid struggles with minor groin complaint
Several battered bodies, captain Kieran Read the most notable, forced the All Blacks to delay naming their team to play Scotland this weekend. Typically the All Blacks, a team notoriously rigid in their schedule, reveal their squad on Thursday. But with starters Read and Luke Romano among those carrying knocks, and others yet to be fully assessed, finalising the line-up has been pushed back until after their second major training of the week in Scotland today.
Attention will focus on how Read recovers after he was pulled 47 minutes into the 38-18 victory over France in Paris last week with what All Blacks coach Steve Hansen described as a minor groin complaint. The skipper rarely, if ever, leaves the field, and groin injuries can be niggly. Matt Todd suffered a similar issue at training in the build-up to the final Bledisloe Cup loss in Brisbane, and needed two weeks to recover.
Read now needs to prove his fitness before being cleared to lead the team at Murrayfield on Sunday morning (NZT).
If Read is ruled out, Beauden Barrett will be favoured to assume the captaincy and the All Blacks could start either Sam Cane or Liam Squire at No 8. Akira Ioane, called in from New Zealand Maori to make his debut in Lyon, is another option.
Romano is the other front-line concern. In Brodie Retallick’s absence he has pushed into the starting second-row alongside Crusaders team-mate Sam Whitelock but at present remains under a cloud with an inner ear cut and sore foot. If Romano does not recover, Scott Barrett may slot in. Patrick Tuipulotu also put his hand up with one of his best performances for the All Blacks in Lyon. The Blues lock dropped the opening kickoff but scored a timely barge-over try and elsewhere produced an aggressive display which included one brutal hit that knocked out French No 8 Marco Tauleigne. “I always want to be physical especially in my role as a lock,” Tuipulotu said after the second-string All Blacks held on for a 28-23 win over the French XV on Wednesday (NZT). “With a lot of young guys and new people it was probably more on me to lead the physicality. It felt good when I tackled him . . . hopefully he’s all right now.” The All Blacks also need to gauge the fitness and fatigue levels of others who featured against the French XV. Backing up in a test match four days later is not commonplace. Top of that assessment list is Squire, a force down the left edge with ball in hand and on defence in 52 impressive minutes in his first game back from a virus in Lyon. Vaea Fifita continued his progression at No 6 in Paris, and could do so again against Scotland. Chiefs hooker Nathan Harris, needed to support Codie Taylor after Dane Coles’ season-ending ACL injury, got through a power of work in his 62-minute stint, while backup playmaker Lima Sopoaga came off after 55 minutes; replaced by Richie Mo’unga who has since returned home with the five other All Blacks who turned out for the Barbarians.