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‘Into the muscle’: All Blacks prop receives 30 stitches for gruesome cut
All Blacks prop Tyrel Lomax is “unlikely” to suit up against France in next month’s Rugby World Cup opener after receiving 30 stitches for a gruesome leg injury.
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Lomax has come a long way in his 12 months as a regular first-choice All Black, and the Australian-born enforcer was expected to play a pivotal role in New Zealand’s World Cup campaign.
But, at least for a moment, it seemed like Lomax’s World Cup was going to come to a painful end before it’d even begun.
All Blacks fans watched on in silence as Lomax was treated on the hallowed turf of Twickenham on Friday night. The rampaging prop pulled up second-best after a tackle against the Springboks.
Lomax was cleared of any ligament damage, but wasn’t exactly out of the woods with a deep cut posing cause for concern. The front rower was carted off the field after just 13 minutes.
The All Blacks went on to lose that now infamous Test 35-7. New Zealand rugby fans had a reason to be worried, sure, and were desperate to hear answers to some pressing questions.
Coach Ian Foster confirmed that Lomax was “pretty bad” and “not in a great way” after being cut by a stud. But the extent of this injury remained unclear, although it didn’t look great.
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On the morning after the Test, Foster shared another update on how the injured All Blacks starter was tracking.
“Tyrel is very sore. He’s our worst,” Foster told reporters.
“He’s got 30 stiches, got stitched by a surgeon last night and at different depths so it’s actually gone into the muscle.
“His leg will be in a brace for four or five days as we give that a chance to heal. Long term he looks good, but he’s put himself into the unlikely category, I thought, in a fortnight.”
The other injury concern to come out of the 28-point defeat prop Ethan de Groot, who is regularly Lomax’s front-row partner-in-crime.
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De Groot received some treatment during the match, but much to the relief of All Blacks fans, players and coaches, the world-class loosehead bounced back up and carried on playing.
“Others are actually not too bad,” Foster added.
“Ethan’s knee, he felt his knee in that first half but played on and that sub was effectively at the time we expected to make it.
“There’s obviously some sore people but they’re the main ones.”
Following the media opportunity at the All Blacks’ hotel on Saturday morning, Lomax was seen walking around with a brace around his leg.
But it’s all part of the plan to get Lomax back on the field as soon as possible.
Coach Foster also insisted that Lomax was not in any danger of missing out on the Rugby World Cup, and neither was Scott Barrett who received two yellow cards against the Boks.
“I see no reason why we would be changing Tyrel.
“There’s no reason why we’d be changing the squad based on information we have right now.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
20 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
44 Go to commentsWhat 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.
4 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.
44 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.
44 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.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
7 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 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.
7 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.
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