‘Didn’t really know’: Ian Foster provides injury update on Jordie Barrett

All Blacks fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief with coach Ian Foster revealing that injured centre Jordie Barrett is expected to “be back and available next week.”

New Zealanders feared the worst as news of Barrett’s injury broke on Monday. The fullback-turned-inside centre missed a training session earlier this week on a scorching day in Lyon.

Barrett can play any position in the backs other than scrum-half, and has a proven ability to knock over penalties from incredible distances. So, anything long-term was sure to trouble the All Blacks.

But Barrett has avoided anything too serious, with coach Foster attempting to calm any nerves and worries about the significance of the injury.

“He’s relatively close. We didn’t really know after the Twickenham Test but he pulled up a bit sore,” Foster told reporters.

“It’s more of a jarring-type injury than anything else in that knee. It’s a precautionary thing in some ways but we’d like to think that he’ll be back and available next week.”

But the All Blacks have been dealt another cruel injury blow which is much more serious. Wing Emoni Narawa has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup and will return to New Zealand.

Narawa, 23, missed most of The Rugby Championship with a back injury, but appeared to be on track for a return to full fitness. But that wasn’t to be in the end.

“It’s incredibly sad. In the Twickenham week, he ran his fastest time of the year, he was coming back, so his preparation has actually been really good, trending right up,” Foster added.

“It’s obviously been a niggling back since the Argentinian Test and he was coming right, he trained really well on Monday and it was actually the last thing he did in the skill block that he jarred it.

“It’s the other side of the disk and it’s incredibly sad for him. He’s worked hard to get here and we were excited about where he was at.

“The best thing for him now is to go and rehab at home. It’s not the nicest thing as a coach right at the start to tell someone they’re going home.

“He’s a popular part of this group and we know he’ll do the right thing.”