New Zealand are set to unleash a rejuvenated member of their touring squad in the third Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, but will bid farewell to another.
Scrumhalf Cortez Ratima is recovering from a knee injury that has sidelined him since the Kiwis’ victory against the Vodacom Bulls on 15 August.
Loose forward Anton Segner, who has already been ruled out for the remainder of the tour due to ankle surgery, will return to New Zealand when his teammates make their way to Johannesburg next week for the FNB Stadium clash against the Springboks.
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“[Ratima] is coming through pretty quickly,” head coach Dave Rennie said during a media session before Saturday’s Test at Cape Town Stadium. “It’s a PCL [knee injury] so the issue with that would be an impact like landing hard on the knee on the ground.
“The longer we leave him, the stronger that will get. He’s definitely in with a chance for the third Test, but we’ll have to make a call on that.”
He added: “[Segner] will be going home. It was arthritic inflammation, which evidently can be the result of some sort of bug, even in your stomach.
“It’s an unusual thing but he ended up having a little infection in there, which needed keyhole surgery to wash it out.
“The plan is he’ll stay with us until we head back to Joburg; that’ll give him enough time to be able to walk unassisted.”
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Kyle Preston, who has played all New Zealand’s matches so far on the eight-match tour, will back up first-choice No 9 Cam Roigard this week. Late call-up Noah Hotham is the fourth scrumhalf in the squad.
“We brought three halfbacks thinking that would be enough to share the load and Cam has only played one of those games,” Rennie said.
“We were keen to give KP [Preston] some footy on Tuesday [against the Lions] … he suits our game, really good at the breakdown, he’s abrasive, has a good skill set and that’s pleasing.”
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On any rotational plans going forward after the clean sweep of the four South African clubs, Rennie shared: “I genuinely believe we’ll use 30-odd players for this series.
“It’s a nice thought that we’ve now got a whole squad preparing for a Test on Saturday.”
Photo: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images
The post Mixed news on All Blacks injury front appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
New Zealand are set to unleash a rejuvenated member of their touring squad in the third Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, but will bid farewell to another.
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