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'Don’t be surprised' if Emoni Narawa's replacement 'is a loose forward'
Just one game into the Rugby World Cup, New Zealand’s loose forward squad depth has been depleted.
The All Blacks survived their opening match against France with no injuries sustained within the lines of Stade de France, although they were forced to switch up their lineup the morning of the match.
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Captain Sam Cane was the man to be ruled out of the tournament’s grand opening with a back injury that was aggravated at the captain’s run the day before kick-off.
In his place, Dalton Papali’i traded the blindside for openside flank and Tupou Vaa’i donned the No 6 jersey.
Former World Player of the Year Brodie Retallick made an ahead-of-schedule return from injury to take a last-minute position on the bench.
The changes stretched what was already an exhausted squad depth in the back row, having two of the five loose forwards injured forced Vaa’i to drop back from his familiar position at lock just to field enough men.
Adding to head coach Ian Foster’s woes is another back injury, this time to winger Emoni Narawa who has been ruled out of the World Cup campaign altogether.
The loss, while devastating for the young Chiefs star, presents an opportunity to bolster what is an under-resourced loose forward unit.
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“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?” Foster said after his side’s opening match loss to France.
“The injuries over the last 10 days have put us under a bit of pressure. I thought Tupou [Vaa’i] played well for large periods and then ran out of steam a bit.
“We probably brought ‘Guzz’ [Brodie Retallick] back a week earlier than we wanted, but we have got him back up to speed now. We will be bringing someone in and don’t be surprised if it is a loose forward.”
The All Blacks were an outlier in their decision to take 18 forwards and 15 backs to the World Cup, with most teams opting for a 19/14 split.
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The apparent options for loose forward replacements are the recently capped Samipeni Finau or the freshly free-from-injury Ethan Blackadder.
Finau was selected as a travelling injury reserve for the World Cup campaign so logically would have the inside running, but Blacakkder’s experience and form in 2023 earns the utility forward some consideration.
Ardie Savea captained the New Zealand team in the absence of Sam Cane and said it was a tough blow to lose the usual skipper the morning of the match but the team needed to adapt.
A timeline hasn’t been offered for Cane’s recovery but all signs point to a return to training this week.
“He put his back out in yesterday’s captain run,” Foster said. “Just lifting someone from kick-off, so we looked at him this morning and he wasn’t quite right so that’s why we made the change.”
Comments on RugbyPass
What a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
2 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
40 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
40 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
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