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All Blacks hooker Nathan Harris to miss entire Super Rugby campaign with Chiefs
By Online Editors
Chiefs and Bay of Plenty hooker Nathan Harris has been ruled out of the upcoming 2020 Super Rugby season.
Harris has been rehabilitating from a fractured ankle in September during the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season. Following a period of shoulder pain, Harris was advised to have shoulder surgery to repair his rotator cuff, which he recently undertook in early January.
The rehabilitation period is six months, making him unavailable for the 2020 Investec Super Rugby season but is set to return for the 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season.
Chiefs Physiotherapist Kevin McQuoid said: “Unfortunately for Nathan his injury rules him out for the 2020 season, our aim is to have him back on the field in time for Bay of Plenty’s Mitre 10 Cup campaign.”
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Harris said: “While I am gutted to have been ruled out for the season, this period of time will be able to assist me in rehabbing well to ensure I can be fit and ready for Bay of Plenty’s Mitre 10 Cup campaign.”
Harris has a half-century of caps for the Chiefs and has made 20 appearances for the All Blacks over five years. After entrenching himself as one of New Zealand's three best hookers over that same period, Harris was usurped last year by Liam Coltman and Asafo Aumua.
The 27-year-old could now find himself even further down the pecking order come the July Test series.
Harris re-signed with the Chiefs last year until the end of 2021.
Harris has been replaced in the squad by Counties Manukau hooker Donald Maka. 25-year-old Maka has been training with the squad as a replacement player during the Gallagher Chiefs pre-season campaign. Maka made his Mitre 10 Cup debut for Taranaki in 2017.
With Liam Polwart retiring due to concussion at the end of 2019, the Chiefs will now be heavily reliant on Samisoni Taukei'aho, who was today named to start in the Chiefs' first game of the season, against the Blues.
- with Chiefs Rugby
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Latest Comments
It certainly needs to be cherished. Despite Nick (and you) highlighting their usefulness for teams like Australia (and obviously those in France they find form with) I (mention it general in those articles) say that I fear the game is just not setup in Aus and NZ to appreciate nor maximise their strengths. The French game should continue to be the destination of the biggest and most gifted athletes but it might improve elsewhere too.
I just have an idea it needs a whole team focus to make work. I also have an idea what the opposite applies with players in general. I feel like French backs and halves can be very small and quick, were as here everyone is made to fit in a model physique. Louis was some 10 and 20 kg smaller that his opposition and we just do not have that time of player in our game anymore. I'm dying out for a fast wing to appear on the All Blacks radar.
But I, and my thoughts on body size in particular, could be part of the same indoctrination that goes on with player physiques by the establishment in my parts (country).
Go to commentsHis best years were 2018 and he wasn't good enough to win the World Cup in 2023! (Although he was voted as the best player in the world in 2023)
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