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All Blacks lock stocks looking grim after Brodie Retallick injury

By Tom Vinicombe
Brodie Retallick's injury has left the All Blacks with few options for the rest of the season. (Photos by Getty Images)

New Zealanders country-wide held their breath as Brodie Retallick was escorted from the field in Saturday’s match between the All Blacks and the Springboks.

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Retallick, who was on the receiving end of a reckless-at-best ruck clear-out from RG Snyman, had dislocated his shoulder. The big man is probably one of the most resilient in the country – it takes a huge hit to keep Retallick down.

Shoulder dislocation normally require 12 to 16 weeks of rehabilitation. Irish centre Robbie Henshaw bucked the trend and was back playing 10 weeks after suffering his own dislocation against Italy in last year’s Six Nations.

Robbie Henshaw missed a huge chunk of the season after injuring his shoulder against Italy in the 2018 Six Nations. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Coach Steve Hansen has revealed on Sunday that shoulder scans show no major damage to Retallick – which means the Chiefs co-captain could be back a little sooner than expected.

Still, the Rugby World Cup kicks off on September 20 – that’s less than eight weeks away. Even in a best-case scenario, it would be a major surprise if Retallick was back and ready for the All Blacks’ rematch with the Springboks in Yokohama on September 21.

A quite year for Brodie

Retallick has already spent plenty of time on the side-lines in 2019. Ten weeks into the Chiefs’ Super Rugby campaign, Retallick tore a tendon in his wrist against the Blues. He didn’t take the field again until the final round of the regular season.

The former World Rugby Player of the Year has now managed just four matches since April 13 – and it’s shown. Whilst he hasn’t been putting in awfully poor performances since his return, Retallick certainly hasn’t looked like the best second-rower in the world. Even top rugby players can’t be expected to find top gear straight away, which is why Retallick’s latest injury will be a major concern for Hansen.

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Even if Retallick is fit for the World Cup, his injury will force the selectors’ hands when it comes to the composition of the squad.

The All Blacks coaches will cut the current squad down from 39 players to 34 on Wednesday. Retallick won’t be taking up one of those spots, thanks to his injury. Once the Bledisloe series comes to an end, the squad will be reduced further down to 31. This selection will take on Tonga on September 7 then travel to Japan for the World Cup.

World Cup squad make-up crucial

The selectors have probably been weighing up for some time whether they need to take three or four second-rowers to the World Cup. In 2015 they opted for the former, with just Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Luke Romano selected. Kieran Read and Victor Vito were considered the locking back-up in the squad – and that’s a tactic that the All Blacks may have opted for this year, too.

Kieran Read in the lineout against Tonga at the 2015 World Cup. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Retallick, Whitelock and Scott Barrett are the three premier locks in New Zealand – head and shoulders above the competition. The next cab off the ranks is Patrick Tuipulotu, who has 22 caps to his name. Luke Romano is the only other specialist lock in the country who has actually been capped for the All Blacks but he’s fallen down the pecking order considerably since his last test in 2017.

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Jackson Hemopo made his international debut against France last year and now has four caps to his name. He’s been used both in the second row and on the blindside flank and was listed as a ‘utility forward’ when the All Blacks named their first squad of the year.

Were Retallick, Whitelock and Barrett all fit, the All Blacks would be seriously considering just travelling to Japan with those three men as their locking options. For the lesser matches, Read or someone like Shannon Frizell could provide second row cover off the bench, if need be. Hemopo’s chances of travelling would also be quite high, given his utility value.

If there were a fourth lock putting his hand up for selection then perhaps the All Blacks would opt for four specialists (as was the case in 2007 and 2011) – but that isn’t the case this year.

Plenty of options – few obvious ones

Tuipulotu has been given multiple opportunities to push his case at the top level but the Blues captain has never really taken his chances. Tuipulotu needed to make a statement in last weekend’s game to show that he deserved to go to the World Cup – but that didn’t happen. Vaea Fifita was selected to cover lock against the Springboks – which seems to indicate that Tuipulotu wasn’t at the level that the All Blacks needed from him.

Retallick’s injury could change everything.

If Retallick isn’t fit for the start of the World Cup then the selectors will likely have to take four specialists to the flagship tournament – including Retallick. The All Blacks won’t be able to go into their first match of the competition against the Springboks without specialist locking cover, which could mean Tuipulotu retains his space in the squad, despite his lack of impact.

If, as is entirely possible, Retallick is invalidated for the whole World Cup, then the All Blacks may end up scraping the barrel for cover. You would have to think that Hemopo would be an automatic selection, but if the selectors want a strictly specialist lock then there are few options on the table.

Locking conundrum incoming

A number of promising second-rowers showed off their wares throughout the Super Rugby season, but none of them looked ready for test football. Pari Pari Parkinson shone out at times for the Highlanders but faltered as the season progressed while Mitchell Dunshea looks like a solid option out of the Crusaders. Perhaps next year they’ll appeal as options – but few New Zealanders would feel comfortable with either of those players locking a scrum in a World Cup knockout match.

Whatever the case, New Zealand will need cover in the second-row for the upcoming matches against Australia – which means at least one of Hemopo and Tuipulotu will be retained in the 34-man squad. Prior to Retallick’s injury all the money would have been on Tuipulotu to get the cut, but that may no longer be the case.

Perhaps Retallick will make a remarkable recovery in the coming months and be fit and ready come the World Cup. He is one the great physical specimens of the rugby world and he certainly has the desire and commitment to get himself fit. Still, a shoulder dislocation is no laughing matter. Whatever the outcome, we likely won’t know what to expect for some time now. In the meantime, Kiwis just have to sit and pray.

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Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

39 Go to comments
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Adrian 12 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

39 Go to comments
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