All Blacks captain Sam Cane set for injury return in star-studded match
Sam Cane’s first Bay of Plenty outing in four years will headline a short-lived throwback as the freshly-named All Blacks return to their provincial roots this week.
With the All Blacks schedule not due to be confirmed until later this week Ian Foster’s 35-man squad departed Wellington to link with their respective Mitre 10 Cup teams.
While crowds cannot attend the opening weekend, the All Blacks are available for the first two rounds of the provincial season which gets underway on Friday night in Albany.
The presence of New Zealand’s elite athletes scattered throughout the country’s 14 unions will end a drought for many players.
All Blacks captain Cane last played for Bay of Plenty in 2016 after tearing his hamstring against Argentina, while Beauden Barrett last pulled on Taranaki’s amber and black in 2012.
After almost one month on the sidelines, which included sitting out the North South fixture, Cane has sufficiently recovered from the nasty head knock he took when colliding with Jordie Barrett’s hip while playing for the Chiefs against the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Reporoa-raised Cane is now relishing the chance to return with Bay of Plenty against the Barrett brothers in Inglewood on Sunday.
“The first couple of weeks after the knock were up and down with a few little headaches and getting a bit weary towards the end of the day but I followed the protocols and rested until I was feeling really good,” Cane said at NZ Rugby headquarters on Sunday.
“I’ve eased into some exercise the last few weeks and really ramped up this last week or so, all the while feeling really good so I hope to pull on that Bay jersey next week.
“They’ve been training away the last few weeks so I won’t have to worry about the leadership side of things, I’ll just enjoy being part of the team. Bay of Plenty had an awesome year last year and they’re in the top flight this year so it’ll be awesome to be involved with them again.
After missing out on selection for the #NorthvSouth game, Alex Hodgman thought it was an indication he wouldn't be named in the first All Blacks squad of the year.https://t.co/oiqbW4bzh2
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 6, 2020
“After debuting for Bay of Plenty as an 18-year-old and looking at some of the old boys on the wall I was hoping to get to 50 games but I’m stranded in the low 20s at the moment because of the way professional rugby has evolved over that time. It will be great to get back – I’ll have to pull my old blazer out the cupboard and dust it out.
“At the moment it looks like we’ll definitely be playing two games. That’s something all the All Blacks can look forward to. It’s been a long time since we’ve had so many involved in Mitre 10 Cup so there’ll be a buzz around that and the provinces will be excited.
“It’s a great thing to do, mix with some really young guys out of club rugby. It’s a real broad mix of players. Everyone has that pride associated with their province. A lot of the boys play for the team they grew up supporting so that’s cool, too.”
As with everyone, it’s been a strange and at times frustrating season for Cane. Foster asked him to be All Blacks skipper back in February and he then had to keep his anointment quiet until the official announcement in May.
Four months on, Cane is yet to lead the All Blacks into a test.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEyigv2gqFi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“The announcement of captain was early on in the piece but no one could predict that test matches were going to be so far away. There’s always a buzz and anticipation the day the All Black team gets announced and today was no different. You can think back and appreciate what it was like to be named the first time.
“Watching the new boys light it up during Super Rugby it was exciting to get us all sitting in a room this morning and share that buzz. Hopefully we don’t have to wait too much longer to get together as a team.
“Logistically it makes sense that we play Aussie. Over the last month or so I’m a bit over guessing what could happen because it changes all the time so we’ll just wait and see.”
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments