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Another long term All Black injury - this time it's one of the Barretts
By RugbyPass
David Havili has been called up into the All Blacks, which is just reward for a strong Super Rugby season with the champion Crusaders.
The fullback takes the place of Jordie Barrett, who has succumbed to a shoulder injury that requires surgery. The younger of the three All Black Barrett brothers is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Barrett had been expected to fill the gap left by Ben Smith, who is cutting short his season after the second Bledisloe Cup match in Dunedin for a contractually obliged break.
This leaves the All Blacks with the option of Israel Dagg returning to fullback, giving the exciting Damian McKenzie a run there, or thrusting Havili into a starting role.
Havili is also a long-distance goal kicking option, as evidenced here with a monster penalty against Auckland in last year's Mitre 10 Cup:
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I can't look at the pointless jinking and oofing into waiting arms and hair flipping and looking at the giant screen and hitching up of the short shorts. God...
Go to commentsDidn't even mention NZ's tier 3 competition: the Heartland Championship.
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