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All Blacks lose Sam Darry for rest of Autumn Nations Series
By Ned Lester
A training injury has befallen All Blacks rookie Sam Darry and has ruled the lock out of the final two games of the team's 2024 campaign.
With a heavyweight battle against France next on New Zealand's itinerary, the Kiwis will call in reinforcements from the All Blacks XV squad also currently touring Europe.
Head coach Scott Robertson is yet to decide who the next man up is for the team.
“Sam has got a knee injury, it happened at training, so he will be out four to six weeks,’’ Robertson revealed after Friday's win over Ireland.
The candidates for promotion are the three second-rowers selected to play Georgia in Sunday's All Blacks XV match. Naitoa Ah Kuoi and Isaia Walker-Leawere have been named to start with Fabian Holland on the bench.
Walker-Leawere was called upon when the team were in injury trouble earlier in the season, spending time with the All Blacks during The Rugby Championship as Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu dealt with injuries.
The Hurricanes lock put in a strong shift in the All Blacks XV's opening game against Munster last weekend, although couldn't avoid the attention of the referee's whistle, a common fault of the abrasive 27-year-old.
22-year-old Fabian Holland was awarded Man of the Match in that contest and is touted as the man with the brightest future of the three players in the running. A recent World Rugby eligibility shift has made the Dutch-born prospect available for national selection.
Naitoa Ah Kuoi presents perhaps the safest pick of the bunch as one of Super Rugby Pacific's best defensive lineout operators. He is also a fan favourite for his outgoing personality.
Current injury replacements in the All Blacks include Brodie McAlister, Josh Lord, Peter Lakai, Christian Lio-Willie, Harry Plummer and AJ Lam.
Elsewhere in the squad, Robertson also offered an update on Codie Taylor and Beauden Barrett who missed the recent Ireland win due to concussion.
“All signs are good that they should be available. They have passed all (the tests) they need to date. It would be great to name them, they have worked hard," he said.
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Latest Comments
Your unterstanding of the relation FFR LNR, is far better than the one in the article. For Meafou, there is an article on Skelton saying he is totally indispensable in the australian game.
In France they are often compared, and french game is often, but not always ,based on this kind of number 5. But , there are a lot of kind of play in France and in the world, and it's a blessing, because otherwise, the game would be boring.
On my other post ,which you replied, my intention was to explain with some historics facts the main importance, in France, of the championship.
But ,once again, I would prefer 3 games in NZ , with the better french players.
Go to commentsI said before the November tests that the AB's should go smash some Nh teams to find their feet and it seems that is just what they did bar France. Could have should have always sucks. Better to look to the future.
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