Lousi out in big injury blow for Canes
The Hurricanes have lost their most experienced lock, Sam Lousi, to a pectoral injury.
While it was not yet known how long he would be out for, Hurricanes assistant coach Jason Holland said it was ‘‘definitely not short-term’’.
‘‘We’ll work through that in the next couple of days and see where that’s going to go, but he’s definitely not a short-term injury.
‘‘He’s done his pec – just how serious that is we’re figuring out.’’
The injury will keep Lousi out of the Hurricanes’ season opener against his former team, the NSW Waratahs, in Sydney on Saturday.
Holland said there were a few other players carrying niggles from preseason, but none were as serious as Lousi.
The Hurricanes will have all their All Blacks, apart from first-five Beauden Barrett, available for selection, but few are expected to start.
‘‘We’ve just got to be smart around how we manage everyone,’’ Holland said.
‘‘They’ve had limited pre-seasons, so we’ll be smart about how much time guys get and who starts.
‘‘I’d say we’ll be very much like the Tahs in that they’ll all be involved in some way.’’
Even with the All Blacks involved, Lousi’s absence will deplete the tight five, which is always considered a weakness of the Hurricanes.
They have a couple of options to replace him in starting alongside expected starter James Blackwell.
They could go for a specialist lock in either one-cap players Geoff Cridge and Isaia Walker-Leawere, or Manawatu debutant Liam Mitchell.
The other alternative is having Vaea Fifita cover lock again, despite his desire for a prolonged run in the No 6 jersey.
The Hurricanes are flush with quality loose forwards in the form of Ardie Savea, Gareth Evans, Reed Prinsep and Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, so it might be that Fifita again has to take one for the team if the coaching staff think the inexperienced locks are not yet ready.
Holland said they saw Fifita as a No 6, but did not rule out a shift back to lock.