All Black & blue
Rugby injury crisis
Aaron Smith has highlighted the “brutal” reality of Super Rugby Aotearoa as the national competition injury toll continues to mount. In recent weeks, the competition has seen several of the country’s top players fall to injuries — some of which will require a long recovery.
Smith’s Highlanders teammate Connor Garden-Bachop is the latest casualty for the southerners, suffering a wrist injury in the side’s golden-point loss to the Chiefs last weekend. Garden-Bachop will miss the rest of the campaign, along with Crusaders midfielder Jack Goodhue and Hurricanes loose forward Ardie Savea who suffered knee injuries last weekend.
“That was the downside of rugby over the weekend; a heap of injuries,” Smith said. “Super Rugby Aotearoa is brutal like that.
“The games are brilliant, it’s just around the byes — is there more chance to fit that in?
“I think last year we had a lot of chat around player welfare and making sure the byes were set up well, then I feel like this year they’ve just sort of flunked it and gone ‘ ah well, go out there and do it’ and it came to the roost in the last few weeks. There are a lot of injuries and some of them aren’t guys walking off — they’re season-enders.
“That’s rugby and it can happen, but the brutality, the intensity of the games and how much is on the line now with playoff spots — it’s brutal,” said Smith.
All of the Kiwi teams have lost pivotal players to the casualty ward this season.
The Blues are without captain Patrick Tuipulotu who is nursing a neck and shoulder injury.
The Crusaders have lost Joe Moody and Goodhue for extended periods, and have been without Braydon Ennor all season.
Sam Cane is unavailable for the Chiefs after pectoral surgery.
The Hurricanes have lost Savea and first-choice No 10 Jackson Garden-Bachop.
The Highlanders are without Liam Squire and Folau Fakatava.
With the rate of injuries, Smith welcomed the new-look competition expected to take shape in 2022, featuring teams from New Zealand, Australia and two Pasifika sides.
“The way the comp’s looking for the future around other teams — it will give us that great balance of what Super Rugby used to be,” he said.
We’re gutted for him [but] he has been through this before and come back in great condition. Coach Scott Robertson
All Blacks midfielder Jack Goodhue has been ruled out of the 2021 rugby season after suffering a serious knee injury.
Goodhue was helped from the field with an injury to his left knee in the 21st minute of the Crusaders’ golden-point victory over the Hurricanes last Sunday.
The Crusaders confirmed yesterday that Goodhue ruptured an ACL.
“He will require surgery, and is not expected to be available for any further rugby in 2021,” the Crusaders said in a statement.
Coach Scott Robertson says the anterior cruciate ligament injury to Goodhue was a tough blow.
“He got caught in one of those positions you do in rugby now and again, full flight. We’re gutted for him [but] he has been through this before and come back in great condition, we’ve got a great group of medical staff that will help him get back to his best,” he says.
Robertson adds there was also damage to Goodhue’s MCL and PCL.
He confirmed utility back Braydon Ennor, who is out with a similar knee injury, is set to play club rugby for the next two weeks but is unlikely to feature in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
“That game against the Brumbies, our first transtasman game, we’re pitching for him,” Robertson says.
Goodhue started in five tests in 2020 and has been a regular in the All Blacks squad after making his debut in 2017.
His injury is another blow for the All Blacks’ 2021 campaign with captain Sam Cane and fellow loose forward Ardie Savea also suffering serious injuries in recent weeks.
Cane will miss the remainder of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season and a chunk of the All Blacks campaign after suffering a pectoral injury while playing against the Blues on March 27.
Savea provided an update on his MCL knee injury on his social media channels on Tuesday, saying he will likely be out for up to eight weeks.
The Crusaders also provided an update on prop Joe Moody who had scans which confirmed a significant injury to the soft tissues at the base of his big toe. He will see a specialist in the next fortnight and a return date will be clearer then.
NZR general manager professional rugby and performance Chris Lendrum told the Country Sport Breakfast he didn’t want to base the injury toll on two weeks but said playing Super Rugby Aotearoa every year wasn’t sustainable.
“We don’t want to read too much into two weeks but we know that playing that standard and intensity of rugby year on year on year is not really sustainable for our players. As a competition, as fans we love it, right? To see our best against our best every weekend and last weekend two golden point games is brilliant. But we’re looking forward to a more balanced programme for those players next year where we have Australian teams in the mix and hopefully these Pasifika teams in the mix, so you’re not watching All Blacks trials every weekend.
“It will be great variety and I think the players will enjoy that variety as well.”
Highlanders halfback Folau Fakatava — a likely future All Black who impressed with his showings this season — also suffered a seasonending injury this month.
The Highlanders announced last week that the 21-year-old had torn his ACL and will require surgery.
The All Blacks are set to start their season in July — Covid-19 permitting — with Italy scheduled to visit New Zealand for two tests and Fiji for a one-off showdown.