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All Blacks boosted by the return of Retallick
By Ben Smith
The All Blacks will welcome back lock Brodie Retallick into the squad ahead of the second test against Argentina in Hamilton this weekend.
The Chiefs second rower has been sidelined since the third test against Ireland in Wellington after suffering a broken cheekbone following a collision with prop Andrew Porter.
The 31-year-old veteran was expected to spend up to eight weeks on the sidelines but will return to the squad this week.
Retallick started all three tests against Ireland and Crusaders lock Scott Barrett has started in the No 5 jersey alongside Sam Whitelock in his absence.
The return of the 95-test All Black opens the door for Barrett to be used at blindside flanker again as the All Blacks look to bounce back after suffering a 25-18 defeat in Christchurch.
The return of Highlanders flanker Shannon Frizell in the No 6 jersey looked to have found a winning formula at Ellis Park, but after falling to the strong Pumas pack more changes might be made.
Head coach Ian Foster retained all but one of his 23 from the victory against the Springboks in Johannesburg, with Beauden Barrett ruled out through injury and Stephen Perofeta making his debut from the bench.
The return of Retallick gives Foster the option of using his most experienced locking pair in what will be a must win fixture in Hamilton if they are to keep their Rugby Championship hopes alive.
The All Blacks sit in third place with one win and two losses, one competition point ahead of last placed South Africa.
After their win in Christchurch, Los Pumas sit on top of the table with nine competition points after two wins and one loss.
Australia sit in second place with the same record but an inferior points differential.
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Latest Comments
There's no easy fix here. From a geography standpoint, South Africa is kind of on an island alone in the rugby world, much like Argentina.
They don't have enough talent to have a top tier domestic league of their own, and it won't support the union financially. Best case you could hope for would be the five extant franchises (including Cheetahs) and perhaps a team from Namimbia. Gives you a 6 team league, that's not enough. Plus again, it's just not financially sustainable either.
At the same time, it's not really great for them to be involved in either the European or the Pacific rugby set up. That said, as bad as the travel is, at least Europe makes more sense from a time zone perspective. I still think it's the least bad option. Also has done wonders for the URC.
I don't think though, that it makes very much sense to have 4 teams from the URC excluded from European qualification. Not to mention, being able to compete in the Champions Cup was a big draw for the South African clubs anyway.
So yeah, I don't really see a change that makes more sense than the less than ideal situation that already exists.
Go to commentsMoriaty refused to play for wales also he’s injured, France’s is being coy about wales, North in the dark but Sam David and jerad are you joking their not good enough
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