Top All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard has withdrawn from tomorrow’s game against the Sharks in Durban due to a tight calf muscle.
An All Blacks’ spokesperson said this morning the move was precautionary.
Cortez Ratima, who started the 38-21 victory over the Stormers in Cape Town, will replace Roigard, who had been named on the reserves bench. Kyle Preston will start the match.
Roigard’s injury comes in the wake of Will Jordan’s back problem, revealed yesterday by head coach Dave Rennie.
Ring wing Jordan would have played in tomorrow’s match had he been fit but Rennie expected him to recover in time for Sunday’s match against the Bulls in Pretoria.
The latest issues to two of the All Blacks’ best players, while apparently minor, will add to the workload of the squad’s medical staff ahead of the first Test against the Springboks in Johannesburg on August 23.
And they come after midfielder Billy Proctor (shoulder fracture) and hooker George Bell (calf strain) prepare to travel home to New Zealand.
Bell has already been replaced by Bradley Slater, who is in line to play his first match for the All Blacks tomorrow, but an announcement on Proctor’s replacement has yet to come.
The silence may be connected to the continuing negotiations over Richie Mo’unga joining the squad after his three years in Japan, a reunion that will require sign-off from New Zealand Rugby’s board.
Mo’unga has fulfilled his part of the deal by playing two matches for Canterbury in the NPC, the second one a successful Ranfurly Shield challenge against Otago, and, while the first-five would not be a like-for-like replacement, the alternatives pale in comparison. Canterbury make their first Shield defence on Saturday against Bay of Plenty.
One player almost on his way is skipper Ardie Savea, who has spent the past fortnight resting and conditioning after a heavy recent workload.
Savea has been posting videos of his training sessions with several of his friends including former All Blacks loose forward Victor Vito in Wellington on his Instagram account and is set to depart for South Africa today with a view to playing the first Test.
“It takes a village, eh?” Savea says in his final video in reference to the support he has received on the training pitch over the past few days. “Now it’s up to me to back it up.”
Meanwhile, heavy rain in Durban has caused flooding in the build-up to the match against the Sharks.
Asked about the weather, Luke Jacobson, who will lead the All Blacks for the first time, said: “We’re professional athletes, this is what we train for. We back ourselves to perform in any conditions.”
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including why power prices are unlikely to fall, and a bizarre twist in an Australian homicide investigation. (Source: 1News)
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