Chiefs trio sidelined
Charlie Ngatai is progressing well and is being touted as a decent chance of playing against the Waratahs next weekend.
But for now, he and fellow midfield options Sam McNicol and Stephen Donald will miss the Chiefs’ Super Rugby match against the Blues in Auckland tomorrow night, with concussion.
The trio were all left out of the side for the match at Eden Park, with the coaching staff playing it cautiously despite positive signs.
Ngatai will sit out for a second week running, having made it back after a year’s absence before headaches returned early last week, while McNicol and Donald both failed head injury assessments in the loss to the Crusaders in Fiji last Friday night.
McNicol’s knock was of particular angst, having already suffered a concussion in the pre-season,
which was his fourth in six months.
Assistant coach Neil Barnes said in this day and age there were certainly no thoughts to taking a gamble with any of the players.
‘‘The doctors have given us an assessment of all those guys and a couple of them are actually doing really really well. But we’d all rather be over-cautious nowadays and let them have an extra week under their belt before we make a decision about playing. So, to be honest, we didn’t even consider any of them,’’ he said.
Asked which were the two players progressing quicker than the other, Barnes didn’t want to divulge, but added that the ‘‘other’’ player wasn’t too much of a worry though.
‘‘I’d love to give you an answer, but it’s not my place to be giving people’s medical situations out,’’ Barnes said.
‘‘It’s just two of them were probably good enough to be considered to play, if we were just looking at how they’re feeling. All of them are going OK at the moment. Two of them are real good.’’
It seems Ngatai falls into the ‘‘real good’’ category, after his scare following a fine return against the Reds in New Plymouth on May 6.
‘‘He got better real quick but, going on his history, we just haven’t even considered him for this week. I’d imagine he’ll definitely be in the picture for the week after, depending on what the medical people tell us,’’ Barnes said.
The midfield defections mean a recall for Johnny Fa’auli, who hasn’t played since round six against the Bulls in Hamilton. That match saw him later suspended for four games for a dangerous tackle, then he wasn’t used in the past two fixtures.
‘‘He had some corrections to make in his tackle technique, he’s worked hard on that, so he’ll get an opportunity now to cement a place,’’ Barnes said.
Wing Toni Pulu was close to returning from the hamstring strain which kept him out of the Fiji trip, but didn’t quite make it, with Tim Nanai-Williams retained on the flank.
‘‘We discussed all the options and it was just one for the opposition we’re playing, it suits best for what we’re trying to do,’’ Barnes said. ‘‘It gives him a licence to roam and turn up around rucks, where we want him to be, and attacking off the halfback.’’
The other change comes in the pack, where veteran Liam Messam has been reinstated, at number eight, in place of a dropped Michael Leitch. The Japan international has only missed one tackle for the season, and Barnes fell it was one of his better performances at the breakdown last weekend, but he left the door ajar just enough for the former All Black.
‘‘I think, even by his own standards, Leitchy had a couple of bad misreads last week on defence,’’ Barnes said.
‘‘But it was one of those ones where we’ve got Liam sitting on the bench that’s chomping at the bit wanting to have a start. He’s been training really really well and it’s really a reward for him for what he’s been doing at practice.’’