All Blacks add 140kg uncapped Highlanders prop, issue four further updates

The All Blacks have called in Saula Ma’u to replace Ollie Norris on the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour, marking the fifth injury update of the series so far for the Kiwis. Head coach Dave Rennie has also shared promising updates on a trio of stars, while adding it is too soon to tell on another.

It’s good news for Cam Roigard and Will Jordan, with All Blacks staff “anticipating they’ll be fine” to play in the first Test of the series in Johannesburg this weekend, after missing the first two weeks of action with minor complaints.

The same cannot be said of Ollie Norris’ knee injury, with the prop expected to be sidelined for six weeks, ruling him out of the remainder of the tour.

“So Saula Ma’u is already on the plane over here to replace Ollie Norris,” Rennie explained to reporters on Monday. “Obviously it’s essential for us to have enough front row forwards; we’ve got a Test on Saturday, and ideally we’d have two fresh front rows to play in that game, which means we’re not asking the Test guys to back up three days later. He arrives tonight.”

Bringing in a tighthead prop to replace a loosehead triggers a mild reshuffle in the front row stocks, with fellow Test rookie Siale Lauaki likely to shift back to the loosehead side of the scrum. With Pasilio Tosi also said to be capable of playing loosehead, the cover allows selectors to “get Saula in the mix and have a decent look at him.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

4

Draws

0

Wins

1

Average Points scored

33

24

First try wins

40%

Home team wins

60%

In the backline, a question mark will remain next to Cortez Ratima’s name for the time being, with Noah Hotham en route to provide cover regardless.

“He had a scan,” Rennie said of Ratima. “It’s a PCL injury. We’re going to see how it is over the next 48 hours. Obviously, we’re a little bit thin at nine as it is, so getting Noah in will be good. We expect Cam (Roigard) to be ready to go on the weekend; we’ve still got KP (Kyle Preston) if Cortez is no good. And we’d need Noah to play on Tuesday. It’s good to get him in, he’s excited. He wasn’t long off the pitch for Tasman when I got a hold of him on Sunday. He’s keen.”

Damian McKenzie is another whose status remains unconfirmed, with the ankle injury he suffered against the Sharks requiring ongoing attention.

“Again, we’re hopeful with him,” the coach explained. “He had a light run yesterday; he was doing some more work with the physio this morning when we were doing clarity. He’ll play a limited part in the session this afternoon, and we’re hoping to get him running by tomorrow. We’ll know a bit more, probably, in the next 24 hours.”

Despite the injury toll climbing at a steady clip, Rennie isn’t concerned, noting all bar one have been contact injuries, which are difficult to avoid.

“You always hope for the best. They’ve been collision injuries, outside of George Bell, who did his in a clarity jog session. It’s the nature of the game. You look at Billy Proctor’s injury, when over jackling the ball, just the angle he got hit on. Obviously Caleb, it was quite amazing really, because we think he did that in the first half and he was catching the ball above his head and charging into people; it’s amazing what adrenaline does.

“It’s sad for those guys to have their tour over so early. But it’s the nature of the game.”