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All Blacks prop punished for breaking team protocol
By Ben Smith
All Blacks loosehead prop Ethan de Groot’s omission from the team to face England at Twickenham is punishment for breaking team protocols.
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Crusaders prop Tamaiti Williams will wear the No 1 jersey in De Groot’s place as he sits out a one-week ban, with Blues prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi named as the reserve loosehead on the bench.
Just what exactly De Groot did is unclear, with head coach Scott Robertson stating internal standards had not been met and the reasons were “off-field related”.
De Groot is the first All Black under Scott Robertson to be disciplined for breaking team protocol, the last being Mark Tele’a during last year’s Rugby World Cup run where he was stood down for the quarter-final against Ireland.
First five-eighth Damian McKenzie wasn’t disciplined for missing the team bus after the All Blacks faced Fiji in San Diego, however McKenzie had to make his own way to LAX to make the flight home.