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All Black Emoni Narawa reveals frightening details about World Cup-ending injury
By Finn Morton
All Black Emoni Narawa has revealed some terrifying details about the back injury that ruled the one-Test wing out of last year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
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Narawa, 24, scored a try on debut last July as the All Blacks ran away with a big 41-12 win over Los Pumas in Mendoza. It seemed like the start of a big 2023 for Narawa.
But that was Narawa’s one and only Test of the year as a niggly back injury sidelined the Chiefs flyer during the entirety of The Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup series.
With the World Cup approaching, Narawa appeared to be tracking towards a return. Coach Ian Foster had revealed he was “excited” about the wings’ progress.
But, before a ball was kicked at the sport’s showpiece event, Narawa was ruled out of the tournament after reaggravating the injury at training in Lyon.
“The disc actually slipped out,” Narawa told Newshub. “It was hitting a nerve and my left leg was numb.
“It took at least two months for the feeling to come back in my leg.
“I was just gutted when it happened,” he added. “I wasn’t thinking about y leg, I was just thinking, ‘S***, I’m out of the World Cup.’
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“It was scary.”
Narawa had worked tirelessly in a bid to return for the All Blacks at the World Cup, but it wasn’t to be – and it was clear how tough that was for the group as a whole.
But with a job to do in France, then-All Blacks coach Ian Foster had the difficult conversation with Narawa where he told the wing he was “going home.”
Crusaders flanker Ethan Blackadder was flown into All Blacks camp as a replacement after impressing on NPC duty with Tasman.
“It’s incredibly sad. In the Twickenham week, he ran his fastest time of the year, he was coming back, so his preparation has actually been really good, trending right up,” coach Foster told reporters last year.
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“It’s obviously been a niggling back since the Argentinian Test and he was coming right, he trained really well on Monday and it was actually the last thing he did in the skill block that he jarred it.
“It’s the other side of the disk and it’s incredibly sad for him. He’s worked hard to get here and we were excited about where he was at.
“The best thing for him now is to go and rehab at home. It’s not the nicest thing as a coach right at the start to tell someone they’re going home.
“He’s a popular part of this group and we know he’ll do the right thing.”
Narawa has reportedly returned to running and is on the brink of returning to full training as well ahead of Super Rugby Pacific 2024 with the Chiefs.
The Chiefs, who hosted last year’s final at FMG Stadium Waikato, will kick off their new season against the Crusaders on February 23 in a rematch of the 2023 decider.
