The All Blacks are waiting on a scan on Brodie Retallick’s knee injury only days out from the announcement of their World Cup squad.
Retallick had treatment and limped from the field after 25 minutes of the All Blacks’ remarkable 23-20 Bledisloe Cup victory over the Wallabies in Dunedin this afternoon.
The veteran lock is a hugely experienced and valuable member of the All Blacks and will be crucial at the World Cup which kicks off in Paris on September 9.
The sight of fellow lock Sam Whitelock receiving treatment late on in the dramatic comeback victory will also have sent a scare through coach Ian Foster. Midfielder Braydon Ennor also left the field with a knee injury – in his case just before halftime.
But it will be the results of Retallick’s scan that Foster may be sweating on the most. The squad of 33 is announced in Napier on Monday.
“We don’t know yet,” was Foster’s reply to the status of Retallick and Ennor’s injuries.
“Braydon seems to be sorer than Brodie.”
Asked how crucial Retallick is for the World Cup – the All Blacks play France in their opener and face a quarter-final against South Africa or Ireland – Foster said: “I don’t like to worry about things until I know, so let’s get the scan and see what it says.”
Given the way the re-shuffled All Blacks played in the first half, Foster could easily have been speaking in the shadow of a defeat with only one Test to go – against the Boks in London – ahead of the World Cup.
There were 13 changes to the side which beat the Wallabies in Melbourne and the home side lacked patience and leadership against a vastly improved opponent before they turned things around in the second half with tries for newcomers Shaun Stevenson and Samipeni Finau and a cool late penalty from Richie Mo’unga which broke the deadlock.
Asked about the gamble of making so many changes, Foster said: The danger was we would have had a group of players who hadn’t played a serious Test match for eight to nine weeks. We knew what we were doing. It was a bit nervous at halftime but, wow, the upside is we came through it. I thought some of the new boys played better in the second half.”
Skipper Sam Cane taken off by Foster due to a knock with eight minutes remaining but otherwise fit and healthy, said: “You’ve got to find ways to win and all Test matches are different… sometimes you have to come through things as a team and overcome them to have a genuine belief you can do it.”
The All Blacks were in a huge hole at 17-3 down at halftime and the Wallabies beating them tactically and physically.
But a vastly improved attitude and the impact of the experienced Aaron Smith, Dane Coles and Richie Mo’unga contrived to turn things around. Leicester Fainga’anuku also helped considerably with his carrying.
Asked about debutants wing Stevenson, who struggled defensively early, and flanker Finau, who was increasingly influential, Foster said: “Both of them probably took a while to adjust to the pace of the game. As the game unfolded they got more involved and you saw how that contributed… particularly Samipeni - he finished over the top of them a little bit which was nice to see.
Foster refused to get into World Cup selections, saying: “We name the team on Monday. I’m not going to give too much away. We went in with a clear plan… today was a testing time that enabled us to evaluate two or three options we had.”
But he did believe his side were in the right place to mount a concerted challenge in France.
“We’ve only got one more Test before we play France in the opening round. It’s interesting, I had a chat to [former selector] Grant Fox last night and he said during all his time with us there weren’t many times when we had three great Tests in a row.
“We started this year with I think three great Tests in a row [wins over Argentina, South Africa and Australia]. This week wasn’t a step forward … from a scoreboard side but it was step forward in terms of digging ourselves out of a hole.
“Clearly we were second best by some distance in that first half. They threw a lot at us… to come back and show a lot of composure despite the scoreboard pressure – and squeeze them and win in the last few minutes, it’s a great lesson for this team.”
Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones, who appeared furious at the final whistle and his fourth defeat in four Tests, said: “Congratulations to New Zealand. I think we’re going in the right direction.”
Asked whether he felt the Wallabies “had” the All Blacks today, he said: “I don’t think you ever have them. In one game I’ve had them in my whole career… and that’s New Zealand rugby. As much as I hate New Zealand rugby, they keep at it, they keep playing, they keep doing things they’re good at.”
SHARE ME