Injury woes for All Blacks

NELSON: The All Blacks look set to be without injured star forward Brodie Retallick for the rest of the Rugby Championship.

Worldclass lock Retallick limped off holding his shoulder 10 minutes into the 4624 win over Argentina at Trafalgar Park, Nelson, on Saturday.

He suffered damage to rotator cuff cartilage after 90 seconds and played on before succumbing to pain.

Coach Steve Hansen said the bruising 27yearold, who was arguably the best player across last month’s two test thumpings of Australia, would be out for a maximum of six weeks, depending on scan results.

Retallick’s next test may not be until the Bledisloe Cup dead rubber in Yokohama on October 27.

Blues lock and 16test veteran Patrick Tuipulotu has been promoted to the All Blacks squad, having just returned from a serious shoulder injury.

Inside centre Ngani Laumape exited at the same time as Retallick with knee ligament damage and will miss at least next week’s test against South Africa in Wellington.

Injuries aside, Hansen pronounced himself happy with a testing win over the Pumas, as fringe players took advantage of an experimental selection.

An exception was fiveeighth Richie Mo’unga, who lacked composure at times in his maiden start, two weeks after firstchoice playmaker Beauden Barrett shredded the Wallabies with four tries at Eden Park.

Hansen said the 24yearold’s struggles backed up his assertion that tests are a step up from Super Rugby in speed and intensity.

‘‘For a young man to have to drive it round for the first time, he did OK,’’ Hansen said.

‘‘There were parts of his game that he won’t be happy with but I’m sure the next time he puts an All Black jersey on, and he’ll get another opportunity, he’ll be better for it.’’

Flanker Shannon Frizell, in just his second test, was the game’s standout performer.

No forward made more runs, metres or clean breaks than the brother of NRL star Tyson Frizell.

The resilient Pumas refused to lie down against the world champion, creating three tries of their own through the brilliance of fiveeighth Nicolas Sanchez to follow up their laststart upset of South Africa.

However, they lacked the finishing power of the All Black, who bagged a third bonuspoint win of the Rugby Championship to move closer to defending their title.

Playing their firstever test in the South Island city, a much changed All Blacks side was guilty of uncharacteristic errors and could not bust the Pumas open as easily as they could in successive wins over Australia last month.

Sanchez continued his brilliant form from the 3219 triumph in Mendoza two weeks ago, scoring one try and setting up the other two in a 14point display.

The Pumas’ tenacious display — not helped by a hefty penalty count against them — will provide some confidence for facing the Wallabies on the Gold Coast next week. — AAP