Chiefs lose one All Black but set to welcome back another
Just as they lose one All Black, the Chiefs’ already potent backline is about to be boosted by the addition of another.
As impressive as Saturday night’s return to the Super Rugby Pacific winner’s circle was for Clayton McMillan’s side, their 46-29 romp against the Fijian Drua in Hamilton did come at a cost, with Anton Lienert-Brown carted off the park with concussion.
It was a cruel blow for the 70-test midfielder, who, in his 63 minutes, had looked back to his very best form. In fact, his 72 metres (eight carries) on the night were equal with Damian McKenzie and behind only Shaun Stevenson (80), with his three clean breaks equal-top with Daniel Rona, his seven defenders beaten behind only McKenzie (eight), while he was the equaltop-tackling back (with Rameka Poihipi), missing none of his eight attempts.
It was on one of those fine bursts upfield where Lienert-Brown suffered the freak knockout, face-planting to the turf and lying prone, as medics rushed to his aid and play stopped for a long period while he was tended to.
Taken to the sideline strapped on the medicab, it was almost just as quick, though, that the crowd were then giving him an ovation, as he emerged, grabbed a jacket and took a perch on the sideline.
“Obviously there was a lot of concern around his neck initially,” noted McMillan soon after fulltime, “but he’s getting a bit of stick now for walking out and saluting the crowd and walking around in the changing sheds like nothing happened. But just happy that he’s OK.”
While any other damage was avoided, Lienert-Brown still now faces the mandatory 12-day stand-down for a failed HIA.
That will definitely rule him out of Saturday evening’s clash against the Highlanders at Waikato Stadium, while also making him highly unlikely for the Good Friday night match against the Crusaders in Christchurch.
Ironically, fellow midfielder Quinn Tupaea had just returned off the bench against the Drua from his own concussion in the opening round − one of two All Blacks the Chiefs welcomed back on Saturday night, the other being lock Josh Lord, who had been nursing a rolled ankle.
And now they are about to unleash another in the form of Emoni Narawa, the one-test winger who has endured a frustrating start to the year with a setback in his recovery from the back injury which ruled him out of the World Cup on the eve of the tournament.
Last week McMillan admitted they had been taking a delicate approach to the 24-year-old, though noted “he’s chomping at the bit, starting to get a bit noisy at training, which is a good indication that he’s tracking in the right direction”.
Then, on Saturday, he labelled him “a possibility” for the Highlanders game.
Funnily enough, the Chiefs have found themselves a couple of strong performers in the No 14 jersey in Narawa’s absence, in Liam Coombes-Fabling (who was rested against the Drua) and regular midfielder Rona, who made a brilliant fist of a wing spot that McMillan said he had “no idea” how much he had played in before.
“We’ve had a number of guys that have been dinged up, so at trainings they get lots of opportunity to train in multiple positions,” McMillan said.
“Daniel, it’s his second year, played heaps of games last year, he’s pretty easy-going, a laidback sort of a dude, so nothing fazes him too much, it was good to see him go well.”