1
All Blacks prospect Jona Nareki set for lengthy sideline stint
Otago have been dealt a hefty blow in the opening week of their 2021 NPC season after losing star wing Jona Nareki for the entire campaign due to injury.
ADVERTISEMENT
The electric Highlanders speedster succumbed to a knee injury in Otago’s season-opening 26-19 win over fierce local rivals Southland in Dunedin on Saturday and was replaced after just 15 minutes.
Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley has since confirmed Nareki, who was considered unlucky to have missed out on a place in the All Blacks squad earlier this year, will be sidelined for the remainder of the year.
“He has had a scan and we are still waiting for the final medical diagnosis because it is still quite swollen,” Kinley said, as per the Otago Daily Times.
“But he will not be available for us for the rest of the season. He has injured his ACL and it is unknown whether he will need surgery yet or not.”
While Nareki’s recovery period remains to be seen, ACL injuries usually take between six-to-nine months to come right, meaning it’s likely the 23-year-old will miss a chunk of the Highlanders’ 2022 Super Rugby campaign.
Kinley said the news was disappointing for Nareki and Otago, but he backed the try-scoring machine to return to top form.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It is disappointing for Jona. We’ve got some good depth which is fine. But when you lose a player of that calibre, and what he adds off the field as well, it’s hard,” Kinley said.
“I feel really sorry for him because he is such a dynamic player … and a great young man. He’ll bounce back from this.”
Nareki has since taken to social media to confirm his provincial campaign is over as he wished his teammates well for the rest of the season.
“Pretty guttered [sic] my Otago season is over, wishing the boys nothing but the best for the season,” Nareki wrote on Instagram.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Be an interesting feeling watching form the stands and not being out there with ’em.”
All Blacks star TJ Perenara has labelled a Hurricanes board member’s comments “sucking up to Maori” comments as “insulting”. #Hurricanes #SuperRugby https://t.co/NLaKjozKk3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 11, 2021
Nareki’s injury is set to provide other wings within the Otago squad with a chance to impress over the course of the NPC season.
Veteran utility back Matt Faddes, young Highlanders outside back Sam Gilbert, explosive speedster Freedom Vahaakolo, who impressed at centre over the weekend, and Tongan international Viliame Fine all loom as possible replacements in the No 11 jersey.
New Zealand U20 wing Michael Manson could also come into contention after being called into the Otago squad to replace injured midfielder Thomas Umaga-Jensen, who is also out for the provincial season with a shoulder injury.
Nareki and Umaga-Jensen are just two of many injury concerns for Otago, as former All Blacks hooker Liam Coltman (ligament damage), ex-Wallabies prop Jermaine Ainsley (high ankle sprain) and highly-touted youngster Saula Ma’u (torn meniscus) all unavailable.
Adding to Otago’s injury woes in the front row is the torn calf sustained by experienced prop Josh Hohneck, which is expected to sideline him for about a month, while one-test All Blacks playmaker Josh Ioane is being monitored after suffering a head knock against Southland.
Journeyman prop Sef Fa’agase, meanwhile, is stranded in the United States after failing to secure a place in managed isolation following a season with the New England Free Jacks in Major League Rugby.
With George Bower on international duty with the All Blacks, Otago have only a handful of propping options available to them.
That led to debuts for development player Abraham Pole and Hong Kong international Tau Koloamatangi during the win over Southland at Forsyth Barr Stadium over the weekend.
Both players could feature heavily throughout the course of the next few weeks given Manu Samoa international Jonah Aoina is the only other prop option named in the initial squad.
Tevita Pole, another development player, has also been training with the squad and could be called upon by head coach Tom Donnelly ahead of this week’s Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawke’s Bay in Napier.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
29 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate 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
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
29 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
29 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.
29 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.
29 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?
11 Go to comments