Taylor test hooker as ABs hit by injury shock

Season- ending knee injury rules Harris out and means Coles recalled to the bench

The All Blacks’ hooker stocks are stretched to the limit after Nathan Harris was ruled out of tonight’s Rugby Championship showdown with the Wallabies in Sydney with a season- ending knee injury.

In the latest setback to hit the world champions, Harris tore his ACL on Thursday, forcing coach Steve Hansen to back track and call up regular hooker Dane Coles on the bench.

Five- test rookie Codie Taylor will start at ANZ Stadium, but Coles may be called on despite Hansen on Thursday saying the 2015 World Cup winner was never going to be picked as he recovers from his own rib injury.

Hansen said Coles had travelled with the squad to Sydney only to receive treatment after being hurt while leading the Hurricanes to their maiden Super Rugby title this month.

But with Harris out, the coach had no alternative yesterday but to call on his first- choice rake.

“If something happened in the first minute [ to Taylor], he [ Coles] will get the 80, no problem,” Hansen said at the All Blacks’ captain’s run.

“I mean, the reason we didn’t play him was because of the type of injury he’s got, they tend to niggle on.

“So we thought if we could give him an extra week he wouldn’t have that problem.

“But now we don’t have that luxury so [ we’ll see] how he goes when the time comes.”

Captain Kieran Read admitted the front- row upheaval was a “a little bit of a distraction late in the piece that you don’t want”.

“But a guy like Dane Coles, who’s vastly experienced, comes on to the bench and Codie’s had plenty of reps this week,” he said. “So things just roll on from that point of view.”

Sydney hasn’t been kind to the All Blacks over the years. All that winter sun and easy living softens up the All Blacks and tends to leave them in an overly- relaxed mood by the time they get around to battling with the Wallabies.

That’s been their problem the last two times they have played in Sydney. They simply haven’t fronted. Not properly. Not with the sort of attitude they need to get the job done.

And they have paid the price. Last year, the Wallabies outplayed them. It was a straight forward case of them being better on the night.

They had the edge in the scrums and other physical exchanges and whether the Michael Hooper- David Pocock pairing was a surprise or not, it caught the All Blacks out.

The onus of ensuring the All Blacks nullify the breakdown threat they face sits with Read. It will be his job to ensure the All Blacks take the field with the right attitude.

In playing Hooper and Pocock in tandem, the Wallabies are leaving themselves short of jumping options and it was there, in the World Cup final, that the All Blacks hurt them.

The Wallabies lost their confidence and in trying to avoid throwing to Sam Whitelock, threw too close to Read who is equally good at stealing ball.

The Wallabies want the All Blacks to keep the ball in hand to create the opportunity for turnovers. If the Wallabies can steal ball, they have the runners to hurt the All Blacks.

The ABs want to build momentum, keep the tempo high. They have to risk losing it to Pocock and Hooper but know that if they can retain their possession, then the Wallabies have lost a key advantage and the pressure will go on their lineout.