Injury saves Gatland headache
An ankle injury to Sean Wainui has saved Chiefs coach Warren Gatland from a back-three selection headache for his side’s Super Rugby clash with the Hurricanes.
The in-form winger won’t feature in tomorrow’s match in Hamilton, given a chance to rest the problem which he actually powered through last Friday’s 51-14 win over the Waratahs in Wollongong with, after rolling the ankle at the captain’s run the day prior.
‘‘He gutsed it out,’’ Gatland said. ‘‘Someone gave him some hard pills somewhere. I said to him ‘get some of those to the forwards’, our backs are showing a bit of toughness at the moment.’’
With Damian McKenzie returning from an All Blacks rest week and Solomon Alaimalo and Shaun Stevenson also in great touch, the outside backs department was a place of hot competition, with Gatland also showing a preference for not carrying a winger or fullback on the bench, and a midfielder instead.
So Wainui’s niggle presented a somewhat easier solution to the selection conundrum.
‘‘He was brilliant, but he’s been sore for the last few days,’’ Gatland said.
‘‘It’s a good chance to rest that ankle to get it 100 per cent right before we go to South Africa.’’
To accommodate McKenzie’s return at fullback, Alaimalo – who has scored in each of his four games this year – heads back to the left wing, where he started the first three games of the season.
The midfield pairing of Anton Lienert-Brown and Tumua Manu is retained, after the latter got through 45 minutes against the Waratahs – his first outing of the campaign following a shoulder injury – with Alex Nankivell again getting the nod over Quinn Tupaea on the bench.
Aaron Cruden and Brad Weber continue their halves partnership, with Weber to again be backed up by Lisati Milo-Harris, who made his debut in Wollongong, as Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi continues to nurse a minor knee injury.
Up front, the loose forward trio of Lachlan Boshier, captain Sam Cane and Pita Gus Sowakula get another run together, again backed up by bench man Mitchell Karpik.
There’s a change in the second row, with Tyler Ardron ruled out with an infection, which sees Mitchell Brown back in after being rested against the Waratahs. Naitoa Ah Kuoi is again in the reserves.
The front row of Aidan Ross, Samisoni Taukei’aho and Ross Geldenhuys remains the same, with All Blacks prop Atu Moli to return via the bench, replacing Ryan Coxon, after missing last weekend with illness, while hooker Bradley Slater comes back in for Donald Maka.
All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala, who injured his knee in round one against the Blues, is likely to return next weekend against the Sharks in Durban.
‘‘It’s a good chance for us to take him away for a couple of weeks and we can run the crap out of him and train every day and get him up to where we want him to be from a fitness point of view,’’ Gatland said. ‘‘He doesn’t know that yet.’’
Conversely, Gatland confirmed fellow All Black Luke Jacobson will miss the trip to South Africa, as the loose forward continues his recovery from a hamstring injury, which flared up early in his return from concussion against the Brumbies last month.
The plan for him will be to play a club game in the next couple of weeks, then, all going well, start the week following the team’s overseas trek – against the Bulls in Hamilton on April 4.