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All Blacks dealt late blow as Patrick Tuipulotu ruled out hours before Bledisloe Cup IV
By Alex McLeod
The All Blacks have been dealt a late blow just hours before Bledisloe Cup IV kick-off, with lock Patrick Tuipulotu ruled out of the match due to illness.
In a statement released on social media, the All Blacks confirmed that Tuipulotu, who was named on the bench for the match in Brisbane, has been replaced in the match day side by two-test youngster Tupou Vaa'i.
"All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu is ill and has been withdrawn from today’s Brisbane test against the Wallabies," the statement read.
"He has been replaced on the bench in the 19 jersey by Tupou Vaa’i."
The addition of Vaa'i in match day squad gives the All Blacks a very youthful reserves list, with the 20-year-old accompanied by three debutants in the form of Asafo Aumua, Cullen Grace and Will Jordan.
The remainder of the All Blacks bench consists of the likes of two-test loosehead prop Alex Hodgman, three-test tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax, five-test halfback Brad Weber and 25-test utility back Damian McKenzie.
Should he make it onto the field, the test will be Vaa'i's third as an All Black, after having come off the bench for his test debut in the 16-all draw with the Wallabies in Wellington last month, before starting in the 27-7 win in Auckland a week later.
After having travelled from Sydney to Brisbane for the test earlier today, the All Blacks and Wallabies are expected to kick the match off at 6:45pm local time.
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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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