An emotional Codie Taylor says there are players in the All Blacks camp hurting after Monday's tragic news that Sean Wainui died.
Wainui, 25, died in a single car crash near Tauranga, leaving behind his wife and two children.
His current teams were Bay of Plenty, Chiefs and the Māori All Blacks, having previously played for Taranaki and the Crusaders.
Speaking from the US where the All Blacks were preparing for Sunday's Test with the USA in Washington DC, Taylor said the thoughts of the team were with Wainui's friends and whānau.
"Hugely devastating news to hear, I know they’ll be going through a lot right now so we send our love."
Taylor said Wainui was held in very high regard, and was a special member of the Crusaders when he played for them.
Chiefs players in particular were taking the news hard.
"It’s pretty tough, I know there are a few boys in here really struggling, as you’d expect. We touched on it this morning as a group, and there will be another opportunity later on," Taylor said.
"A man with so much mana and respect, it’s such sad news to hear, there’s a lot of shock as well. You don’t think it’s ever going to happen to someone you know, but it does. But it’s the cruel reality of the world. It’s hard to talk about, I know a lot of people will be hurting."
Wainui, 25, represented the Chiefs, Bay of Plenty and the Māori All Blacks. (Source: Other)
Sam Whitelock said there were a lot of "heartbroken" players who had played with him in various teams.
"There are people walking around with a pretty heavy heart at the moment."
He said "Whitelock and Wainui" used to sit next to each other on planes with the Crusaders team, where the young Wainui would speak about life with his older teammate.
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