McKenzie adds to growing All Blacks injury toll
The All Blacks go into their first pre-World Cup camp on Monday hampered by a rising injury toll and expecting more casualties before they begin their title defence in Japan in September.
Damian McKenzie is the latest to be sidelined after limping off with knee damage during Saturday’s bruising Super Rugby derby between the Chiefs and Blues. The utility back joins at least nine other All Blacks on an injury list headed by Sonny Bill Williams and Owen Franks, both members of the sides that won the last two World Cups in 2011 and 2015.
The Chiefs were reluctant to speculate on the extent of McKenzie’s injury but said in a brief statement he would have an MRI scan and will be assessed further in the coming days.
His fellow All Blacks Brodie Retallick and Nathan Harris also took severe knocks in the Chiefs’ 33-29 victory but their injuries were said not to be serious. World Cup years add an extra urgency to the high-stakes New Zealand derbies, which are seen as unofficial All Blacks trials, and the ferocity of play leads to injuries.
“We know there will be [more] injuries in the next two or three months, so our whole planning now is based on what happens when this happens,” All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster told Radio Sport.
“We don’t like it but we’ve just got to make sure we control what we can control and have the best possible medical programme that gives them a fighting chance strong.”
Most of the injured All Blacks are among the 41 players named to attend the day-long camp, which will “provide an opportunity for All Blacks management and our leading players to start building towards what is a huge year ahead”, said New Zealand Rugby’s high-performance chief Mike Anthony.
Williams, who has been plagued by injury in recent years, has undergone knee surgery that will keep him out for about six weeks. The full extent of Franks’s shoulder injury remains unknown but at the very least he will miss the next few weeks.
“We’re going to rescan in two weeks to see how the healing is going, to see how serious it is. But, at the moment, Franks won’t play for the next few weeks,” Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said.
Foster said while injuries are a problem, there is plenty of time for players to prove their fitness.
“We have five Test matches before the World Cup. There may be some players who may not get a lot of chance through injury to come back into Super Rugby but may get an opportunity to show they are at the right level after that,” he said.
All Blacks openside flanker Sam Cane has not played since suffering a broken neck against SA in 2018 and has only just been cleared to resume contact training. Also o ut with injury are scrumhalf Aaron Smith, loose forwards Liam Squire and Luke Whitelock, hooker Codie Taylor, and wings Waisake Naholo and George Bridge. to come back