Josh Lord opens up on 11-month injury layoff and ‘special’ All Blacks return
When the All Blacks revealed their 36-man squad for the Rugby Championship earlier this month, there were some interesting selections and shocking omissions.
The inclusion of five debutants in the squad – including Hurricanes halfback Cam Roigard and Crusaders flyer Dallas McLeod – dominated headlines, as expected.
But the absences of players including Hoskins Sotutu, Brad Weber, and even Shaun Stevenson from the initial squad, certainly raised some eyebrows.
But amongst all the chatter, clutter and widespread excitement, the inclusion of Chiefs lock Josh Lord somewhat flew under the radar.
Lord, who is the fifth-tallest player in All Blacks history, made his Test debut against the United States in Washington back in 2021. The rising star made one more appearance during the end-of-season tour – and the lock appeared destined for more.
But a knee injury ended Lord’s Super Rugby season in 2022, and prevented the second-rower from returning to the All Blacks – and the Chiefs as well.
Lord returned for the Chiefs in the ninth round of Super Rugby Pacific this year and went on to make a further three appearances for the eventual runners-up – but there’s plenty more to look forward to in 2023.
With the Rugby World Cup nigh on the horizon, Lord opened up about the “special” opportunity to return to the national setup.
“It’s always pretty special to hear your name called out,” Lord told RugbyPass.
“When you get the chance to work with some world-class players and some bloody coaches, and hopefully push hard to play a few games and put my best foot forward really.
“It’s definitely going to be special. There’s been a lot of hard work that’s gone into it from not just myself but the medical team as well as mates and family.
“It’s special to be able to share the journey along with them.”
Lord was actually selected for the All Blacks’ squad to take on northern hemisphere heavyweights Ireland last year, but had to withdraw due to injury.
After a tough 11 months, the 2.03m lock returned to the rugby field with the Chiefs Development side, and later club side Coastal in Taranaki.
Lord clearly took things day by day and just focused on what he could control. But the towering lock did say that the goal of returning to the All Blacks “was always in the back of my mind.”
“I guess it was always in the back of my mind. Like everyone, you always wanted to push for higher honours and represent your country,” he added.
“I guess for me at the time it was just more about getting out there, enjoying a bit of footy and trying to stay healthy and then just letting things happen.
“If it’s meant to be it will be, and if it’s not meant to be it’s not the end of the world. That was my mindset.”
Still only 22 years of age, Lord has plenty of rugby ahead of him.
But the tough 11 months on the sidelines haven’t exactly been for nothing, either. Lord has returned to competitive rugby with a new perspective – which at such a young age could be prove invaluable.
“Just going out there and enjoying it and taking each game by game and like I said, if you go out there the game will take care of whatever else is meant to happen.
“I’ve kind of gone from being not injured to sitting on the sidelines for 11 months, so it was a bit of a shock to the system.
“It was also good to spend a bit of time away from footy, spend a bit of time with friends and family.
“It kind of changes your perspective, probably a little bit more time that goes into rehab stuff which is probably not a bad thing to be learning earlier on in your career.”
The All Blacks begin their Rugby Championship campaign against Los Pumas in Mendoza, Argentina next month.
New Zealand will then return home to face the Springboks in Auckland before travelling across the ditch to take on Eddie Jones’ Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Comments on RugbyPass
Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
237 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
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