Cruden ‘likely to be fit’ after medial strain
AARON Cruden will likely be available for the All Blacks Tests against the Lions, Chiefs coach Dave Rennie said.
Cruden limped off at halftime in the Chiefs’ 17-14 win over the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday night, giving All Blacks selectors and fans alike cause to worry.
However, Rennie said the All Blacks back-up fly-half should be good to go against for the first Test on June 24.
“It looks like a medial strain,” Rennie said. “I doubt that he’ll be available for the Samoa on Friday game but he’s looking like he’ll be right for the Lions series.”
The All Blacks will assemble in camp today. It’s not yet known whether a player will be called in as injury cover for Cruden with All Blacks’ third stand-off Lima Sopoaga expected to fill his boots should he not recover in time.
But Rennie doesn’t expect that to be the case.
“I’m sure the All Blacks medics will be having a decent look at him tomorrow when they assemble,” he added. “He certainly won’t be available this week, but potentially available for the whole Lions series.”
Despite losing Cruden, the Chiefs repelled a desperate Hurricanes late charge to hold on for a narrow win.
It’s the first time the Hurricanes have been beaten at home this season, dealing a blow to their hopes of securing the first wildcard qualifier position in the New Zealand conference.
The first half was evenly contested with Vaea Fifita crossing over for the Hurricanes and Cruden for the Chiefs.
Despite a setback that came through a sin bin to Michael Allardice, Chiefs showed a lot of resilience with James Lowe scoring their second try.
Damian McKenzie was on target with the conversion and nailed a penalty to push Chiefs clear.
Replacement Wes Goosen’s late try and Jordie Barrett’s conversion brought it back to three points but Chiefs held their nerve and have narrowed the gap on their rivals in the table.