1
‘He’s out’: Shannon Frizell set to miss World Cup opener with 'niggly' injury
By Finn Morton
Flanker Shannon Frizell has picked up a “niggly” hamstring injury in the leadup to the All Blacks clash with rivals South Africa at Twickenham next weekend.
The rampaging loose forward was compared to legendary All Black Jerome Kaino after starring against the World Champion Springboks at Mt Smart Stadium last month.
Dazzling winger Will Jordan set up Aaron Smith for the opening try of the contest in the opening few minutes, and Frizell added to their lead shortly after. Frizell ran over Willie le Roux, and was generally sensational that night.
It was Frizell's best Test in an All Blacks jersey.
Frizell joins 103-Test veteran Brodie Retallick on the sidelines, with both players also set to miss the All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup opener against France on September 9 (NZST).
Retallick limped off the field at Forsyth Barr Stadium during New Zealand’s come-from-behind win over the Wallabies in Bledisloe II with a knee injury.
“Brodie is progressing really well, and we’ll assess more next week,” Foster told reporters on Friday. “He’s out of the South Africa game and likely to be out of the French game.
“We’ve got Shannon Frizell who tweaked his hamstring two days ago doing a speed session. Again, that’s probably a similar time frame, so that’s a bit niggly for us.”
The injury could potentially propel loose forward Luke Jacobson into the starting side at blindside flanker, and Dalton Papali’i is another option if coach Foster opts for a backrow reshuffle.
On Thursday morning, Jacobson spoke with RugbyPass about the All Blacks’ chance of hoisting the Webb Ellis Cup.
“I think things are tracking pretty well, and it’s not going to be an easy feat but we’ve got some awesome coaches here, they’re doing a good job,” Jacobson said.
“We’ve got some awesome players and experienced players leading us in the right way.
“We’re already moulding together as you might see from the last few games but I think we’ve still got more to offer so it’s exciting to see where we can get to.”
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Nemani Nadolo: 'Now I cut grass, do gardens, cut hedges for a living'
3
Exclusive RugbyPass interview: Toulon co-captain David Ribbans
4
'One of the deadliest wingers in rugby' has decided his future
5
Latest Comments
The manner of all these comments is that it doesn’t matter who plays No10 for the All Blacks, apparently they are all rubbish!
Seriously, people need to get a grip and stop obsessing over every tiny error made from an overscrutinised position. DMac was good this year for the most part, as was Beauden Barrett. Mo’unga was good last year and would be an asset in the group if he did come back. I don’t see it as an area of concern.
The main concern in 2025 is finding another world class lock and loose forward, followed by some scrutiny over the midfield combination in my view.
Go to commentsI was at this match. Jordie Barrett earned his money with a massive hit to slow a connaught attack to win the math when Leinster had 14 in the last few mins. Mack Hansen had a real go at the refereeing after citing a serious head hits on Iaone and Aki.
connaught were up for this. Snyman tried a trademark dirty after, and the onnaught 4 and the onnaught pack absolutely laid into him.
Leinster hose to kick to the corner when only winning by 5 with 10 left and qith only 2 tries scored. onnaught should have punisihed them for that utter stupidity after they broke out and Leinster yellowed to stop the attack.
13 changes from last week. It seems teams are scoring about 10 points less against Leinster this year. With Neinaber in his second year, the new attack coah established, surely they will be a bigger threat in champions up? Or will the attack recgress further.
They must adopt the SA philosophy of take your 3 pointers and the bonus points will come.
connaught back line inluding Iaone, Murphy, Aki, Forde, cordero is the seond best in Ireland surely. Leinster were lucky here
Go to comments