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All Blacks call in more reinforcements after Sam Cane injury

Du'Plessis Kirifi of the All Blacks XV. Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images

The All Blacks have called upon three All Blacks XV players to join the top squad after counting their injury woes from the weekend’s Ireland Test.

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Following the Dublin win, All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson revealed a season-ending MCL injury had befallen rookie lock Sam Darry, while further medical examination has found Sam Cane ineligible for the coming France Test due to concussion. Star winger Mark Tele’a has also been ruled out due to a hand injury.

Fresh off their 31-13 win over Georgia, All Blacks XV stars Fabian Holland and captain Du’Plessis Kirifi have been called in as injury cover in the forwards and Chay Fihaki will rejoin the team in the backs.

AJ Lam will stay with the team as Harry Plummer’s replacement as Plummer deals with a leg injury. Plummer was included as cover for Billy Proctor, who returned to New Zealand to be with his partner for the birth of their child.

It will be 22-year-old Holland’s first stint with the New Zealand squad since becoming eligible for All Blacks selection in August. The 204 cm Highlanders lock was born in the Netherlands before moving to New Zealand to pursue his rugby dream in high school.

Du’Plessis Kirifi has previously joined the All Blacks as injury cover in 2020, although is yet to debut for the team. Fihaki was briefly involved with the team in September during Jordie Barrett’s absence.

“It’s next man in and we back our squad. We back our squad and we have no doubt whoever comes in will do a great job,” All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan said in response to the injuries.

“Sam’s been immense, he’s been exceptional on the field, and also with the leaders and the younger boys. He’s been phenomenal, but he’ll lead in a different way this week.”

Some good news for All Blacks fans comes in the form of Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor, who are on track to be available for the France Test after missing the Ireland game through concussion.

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21 Comments
B
BA 9 days ago

hmmm I’m gonna go with Lakai he has been with squad whole time and young fella hasn’t missed a beat and can do everything Kirifi gets a game against Italy and hugely deserved …right wing will be Sevu hope he got a big game in him due one has done it before …But moving fwd Fihaki better bigger faster than what some people think and a cannon right foot

J
JW 8 days ago

I'd imagine Cane will be back for a farewell for Italy.

J
JW 9 days ago

What a joke, back them to hold tackle bags they mean. Didn't give Bell or Perofeta any time on the park against Ireland.


Would love to see them fix these mistakes and maybe even see another new debutant this weekend.

J
JJB 9 days ago

I hope Karifi gets a shot at 7 , he’s so hungry and also knows how to lift his team mates

G
GC 9 days ago

Agree JJB, Kiriri deserves a shot at 7.

H
Head high tackle 9 days ago

I hope with Telea out that WJ goes to 14 and BB to 15.

B
BB 9 days ago

I wonder could we see Jordan to 14 and Love to 15?

S
SC 9 days ago

Very interested in seeing what the back row selection will be. I would expect Robertson to keep Sititi at 6 and Savea at 8 as they are both playing very well in those positions. So that would leave Lakai or Kirifi at 7 and I suspect Kirifi will get the nod to start as he has played very well against Munster and Georgia and game fit. Leave Finau on the bench to cover 6.

J
JW 9 days ago

I'm not sure about that. I think the will like Kirifi's experience and thing him a sound selection to come straight it and do the jersey proud, but I'd actually back them to play Lakai.


I do think they'd want some security there though, so Kirifi could actually replace Finau on the bench, or even better, they could have both with a 6/2 split.

G
GM 9 days ago

Don't think there's any way these coaches will throw Kirifi in the deep end on one week's prep. Maybe Italy. The ABs have finished the last 2 tests with Ardie at 7, Sititi at 8 and Finau at 6. It'd be a vote of no confidence in Finau to throw Lakai in there, but he has been with the squad for the whole tour.

L
LW 9 days ago

Would be awesome to see Kirifi in there he is quality and would be great to see him given an opportunity

H
Head high tackle 9 days ago

Id love to see Kirifi get a reward for being so consistantly good over many years. He's a class act and would not let anyone down.

B
Bruiser 9 days ago

Im hoping for Wallace 8, Ardie 7 and Finau 6 with Lakai off the bench.

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JW 30 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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