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Hearts in mouths for All Blacks fans as fullback Ben Smith goes down
By Online Editors
Last night's 31-all draw in Dunedin thrilled many New Zealand fans until All Black fullback Ben Smith went down with what looked like a serious knee injury with just five minutes to go in the match.
Smith fell awkwardly into a tackle after losing his footing on the surface, before being bent backward into a compromising position. His reaction gave no relief as he displayed his discomfort.
After the match head coach Aaron Mauger was aware of a cut to his chin in the collision with Jacobson but believed Smith suffered a hamstring strain.
“He's got a hamstring strain, and also got a laceration on his chin, so he’s just getting stitched up at the moment,” a disappointed Mauger told RugbyPass.
“We’ll know a bit more in the next couple of days.”
The scare comes after dual first-five fullback Damian McKenzie ruptured his ACL a few weeks, ruling him out of the World Cup and leaving the All Blacks short on depth in two key positions. A serious injury to Smith would all but cause a crisis for the team at fullback, with Jordie Barrett, David Havili and even Will Jordan firming to be starting options.
Smith was influential in building the Highlanders 28-12 lead before a late Chiefs comeback saw the match drawn at 31-all.
Ben Smith interview ahead of Chiefs:
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Borthwick has obviously earned the right to expect people to look elsewhere when the sort of personal problems likely at the heart of Jones' departure occur but it's hard to believe he's, if not entirely to blame, at least most of the problem.
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Go to commentsBM My rugby fanaticism journey began as a youngster waking up in the early hours of the morning with a cup of coffee to watch the Boks play the ABs on that 1981 rebel tour, where we lost the last game in the dying seconds to a penalty, and ended up losing the series 2-1. Danie Gerber, Naas Botha, Ray Mordt, and DuPlessis, to name a few; what a team! I believe we could've won another World Cup with those boys playing in their prime.
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