Canes’ ABs contenders queue up to face Blues
Just as the Chiefs, and quite likely the All Blacks, were breathing a big sigh of relief over Samipeni Finau, they have another concern on their hands in Josh Lord.
As the four-test lock was preparing to return from a second ankle injury, in a season that has seen him limited to just three games, he suffered an issue with his knee which is likely to see him miss the rest of the Super Rugby Pacific season.
The 23-year-old had been put on ice last week to ensure he was fully set to go against Moana Pasifika in Auckland tomorrow but now Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan has something of a perfect second-row storm on his hands after Lord suffered yet another setback.
“We’re just going through a process with Josh at the moment. We were a little concerned that some of the injuries around his leg were taking a little longer to heal than what we anticipated, so we should know more in the next 24 hours,” the coach said yesterday, adding that it was “quite possible that it could be a longer-term injury”.
That is not expected to extend too far past the end of the Super season, however, leaving Lord in the frame for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, but certainly well under-done for a national side going into a season without two of their best-ever locks in Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick.
The 2.03m Lord, who played two tests in 2021 and two more last year, has appeared in just 22 of the Chiefs’ last 52 games, with a serious knee injury (ruptured ACL) in 2022 accounting for much of that absence.
With Jimmy Tupou nursing a facial fracture, Finau, who has experience at lock, unavailable, and McMillan not wanting to risk Naitoa Ah Kuoi, who limped off with an MCL knee issue early in last Saturday’s 56-7 romp over the Force, Hamilton Burr has been called upon to provide second-row cover from the bench.
Burr, a 27-year-old Scotsman, played two matches for the Chiefs in 2022 and is more at home on the side of the scrum.
The outlook for Finau, meanwhile, is, as McMillan expressed on Saturday night, much brighter than it potentially looked like being for the in-form one-test All
It’s not just Super Rugby Pacific title credentials that will be shaped as the pace-setting Hurricanes and Blues set the tone for the playoffs run in.
As Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw noted recently when asked about his slew of All Blacks contenders, now is when they need to raise their hand highest.
“If I’m an All Blacks selector, these are the games I’ll start watching,” he said of fixtures like Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash in Auckland.
New coach Scott Robertson and his fellow selectors have plenty to chew over, with a few high-profile departures and Japan-based trio Ardie Savea, Sam Cane and Beauden Barrett soon to return.
Here are some key positions and matchups where the spotlight may shine brighter at Eden Park, with an eye to All Blacks selection for the two England tests in July:
The race for the black No 1 jersey just heated up, with Tamaiti Williams returning from injury for the Crusaders against the Highlanders, and incumbent Ethan de Groot back as captain in Dunedin.
Chiefs: Etene Nanai-Seturo, Liam CoombesFabling, Anton Lienert-Brown, Quinn Tupaea, Daniel Rona, Josh Jacomb, Xavier Roe, Wallace Sititi, Luke Jacobson (capt), Simon Parker, Tupou Vaa’i, Manaaki SelbyRickit, Reuben O’Neill, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Ollie Norris. Reserves: Tyrone Thompson, Jared Proffit, Sione Ahio, Hamilton Burr, Kaylum Boshier, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Rameka Poihipi, Gideon Wrampling.
Black, following the bang to the AC joint in his left shoulder.
“Thankfully there’s no dislocation and no breakage in there, so he’s just got to follow
Hurricanes:
Then there’s 25-year-old, 111kg Numia, who also got a rest last weekend and looked every bit an All Blacks contender in the early rounds alongside Asafo Aumua (now sidelined until the playoffs) and Tyrel Lomax, who owns the All Blacks No 3 jersey.
The Hurricanes’ scrum has been huge, and their bruising ball carriers have made an impact. Numia is your classic allrounder, as the modern prop needs to be: scrums well, carries strongly with excellent skill, gets around the field, and defends powerfully.
How he compares with seasoned All Black Ofa Tu’ungafasi in the blue No 1 jersey a pretty diligent return-to-play plan, and we anticipate that’ll be anywhere between three and four weeks,” McMillan said.
In the backline, fellow one-test All Black Shaun Stevenson remains sidelined by a hamstring injury picked up against the Waratahs the round before last, but is back training and on track for a possible return against the Rebels in Melbourne next Friday.
That’s a fixture Damian McKenzie will also be targeting, with his mandatory 12-day concussion stand-down ending the day before, and McMillan confirming his star No 10 had “bounced back pretty quickly” in what is doubling up as his second and final All Blacks rest week.
will be fascinating, and could offer a pointer to Numia’s chances of a first All Blacks callup.
He only turned 21 in March, but Lakai has made an effortless step up to first-choice No 7. On Saturday, he will get a stern test against World Cup All Black Dalton Papali’i, which offers one of the more absorbing head-to-head clashes.
Talk about hotly contested areas.
The
His absence, along with the resting of fellow first-five Josh Ioane, sees another chance for youngster Josh Jacomb, who hasn’t featured since starting the Good Friday loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch, with Rameka Poihipi on hand to cover playmaking duties from the bench.
Elsewhere, captain Luke Jacobson is back in the starting line-up, again at No 7, after a shoulder injury kept him out of the Waratahs game.
One of several players rested is All Blacks winger Emoni Narawa, who has scored in each of his five starts (eight tries) since his return from a serious back injury.
Liam Coombes-Fabling is set for his first outing since round three, and Gideon Wrampling joins the reserves. black No 8 jersey will be as keenly fought as anything, with Savea seemingly slotting straight back in, and Blues loosie Hoskins Sotutu one of the players of the season so far.
Iose began with a rush, too, and reminded Hurricanes fans that there is life without Savea (for this season at least).
With Cam Roigard out for six months, and the Blues’ Finlay Christie out with a groin injury, the rejuvenated Perenara looks a lock for one halfback spot in Robertson’s 23.
Folau Fakatava of the Highlanders and Cortez Ratima of the Chiefs, in that order, look to be his closest challengers.
Fast and unpredictable, Love will want a stellar showing against the Blues to continue pushing his case. With Will Jordan out with injury, and Barrett needing to show he’s returned from Japan in top shape, the opening is there, with Love looking the top contender ahead of Shaun Stevenson of the Chiefs. Blues No 15 Zarn Sullivan may also have something to say about that.