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All Black wing Reece confirmed to be out for season
By Ben Smith
Crusaders winger Sevu Reece has been ruled out for the rest of the season after confirmation he suffered an ACL injury against the Blues.
The 26-year-old was forced from the field early in the second half at Eden Park after a croc roll-type of cleanout by fellow All Black teammate Rieko Ioane removed Reece from a ruck.
He limped from the field with medical attention after the twisting motion awkwardly caught his leg in the process.
The serious knee injury will mean Reece will miss his second World Cup after breaking into the All Blacks' starting side in 2019 ahead of the event in Japan.
“It’s a hard one, for him and the whole club because he is so important to us,” Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said about the injury.
“Really feel for him. He’s been incredible for us. A lot of hard work will get him back to where he was beforehand, a world-class wing.
Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson said that the incident was looked at post-match but wasn't worthy of citing despite not being 'nice'.
“There are clear protocols and follow-ups from the TMO, and they can look in retrospect from the match officer, and they found it was OK,” Robertson said.
"It wasn't a nice incident, was it?”
The diagnosis is a further blow for the Crusaders who have been hit hard with injuries this season.
Reece is one of eight All Blacks sidelined currently, and joins prop Fletcher Newell and lock Mitchell Dunshea as Crusaders who will miss the rest of the season.
Former Hurricane Pepesana Patafilo started in the 14 jersey last week in Reece's absence.
The Fijian-born wing has 46 tries for the Crusaders in 56 appearances, which is second on the all-time list for the club and just 14 shy of Israel Folau's record.
Contracted until the end of 2024, Reece will have the opportunity to reach the top of the Crusaders' list next season and surpass Caleb Ralph who has 52.
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Latest Comments
Yeah they're away of it too. It was brought up in one of the Italian focused articles. They are performing now and trying to move out of that 'being in awe' type attitude.
Very easy to say we're good enough to put all our focus on wining this last big game of the year (this one) though, you also need to be consistent and still perform in the other games (slip up against Georgia) and not get ahead of yourself. Not think you're too good for teams like Argentina and Georgia just because theres a shift in attitude towards thinking 'were good enough to beat anybody now'. Hope they go forward from here but I think this performance is still only good enough to keep them off wooden spoon 6N position (keep them well away from the bottom mind you).
Go to commentsYeah I predicted (out of thin air) it to be more like 30 points between them. You don't think it wasn't more like that because they picked jaded players?
Will have a look at the game now I guess.
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