Sam Whitelock injured; unlikely for Steinlager Series

Sam Whitelock injured; unlikely for Steinlager Series

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen today confirmed the 24-year-old is out injured for four to six weeks after breaking his right ring finger - meaning he is unlikely to be declared fit for next month’s Steinlager Series against France.

“Sam will undergo a follow-up x-ray after which we should have a clearer picture of the injury and what that means for his return to rugby.

“While this is disappointing for Sam, and for the All Blacks, one man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity, so we look forward to seeing that opportunity being realised.”

one mans misfortune is another mans opportunity, yep thats it in a ut shell and luckily for All Black fans, our smarts in trusting our depth means we wont have to go overseas, o_O

but the guy i really want to see get a shot is dominic bird from the crusaders, no one outside of NZ knows much about this guy, then again not too many outside the crusader fans know much about him either, but this guys is the goods.

i bet tom donnoley is regretting leaving the highlanders now where he was an incumbent, now hes struggling to get gametime and is prob 4th or 5th on the pecking order and i cant help but feel it serves him right.

Sasue

Sorry to hear about this one.   He is to my mind the number 1 lockk forward of the All Blacks - miles ahead of anyone else.   Will be missed by New Zealand in the upcoming test series

@mikey,

whitelock is our No1 lock at the moment, but romano is more important IMO. if romano had been injured i wouldnt have been too happy as at leat with whitelock retallick plays a very similar role. romano is the more physical lock and i think hansen realises this now after the loss to england last year where romanos presence for the whole 80 would have been more valuable.

would like to see dominic bird put on more weight, hes very similar romano with his style of rugby, but another 5kgs would make him more effective.
a partneship with retallick would also give NZ an edge with height in the lioneouts over everybody.