The missing stars: The players who won't line up for North-South match
Sam Cane's health will not be risked in the North versus South fixture next week but All Blacks coach Ian Foster has given a positive projection for his captain's return from concussion.
Foster is, however, resigned to being without Ngani Laumape and Scott Barrett until much later in the year.
Newly installed All Blacks captain Cane suffered a nasty head knock when he collided with Jordie Barrett's hip in the Chiefs' final Super Rugby Aotearoa defeat against the Hurricanes in Wellington on August 8.
The collision left Cane knocked out and prone on the turf before he eventually managed to walk from the field.
While Cane will miss the North versus South match on August 29, to be played in either Wellington or Auckland depending on the Covid-19 restrictions, Foster remains upbeat he will be available for the All Blacks first hit out of the season. At this stage, that is scheduled to be against a Moana Pacific side on October 3 at Mt Smart Stadium.
"Sam Cane hasn't really started going through the return to play protocols from a training perspective because his team has disassembled so he's been taking some time," Foster said on Tuesday as the respective North and South squads were named. "He's looking really good, getting better each day, so we're hopeful that won't take too long but it's more of a precautionary thing now."
Despite Cane's absence the North's loose forwards are stacked with Lachlan Boshier, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papalii, Ardie Savea and Hoskins Sotutu all vying for starting roles.
Several other leading All Blacks are also unavailable for the North-South fixture.
Dane Coles will miss the match with a minor calf complaint – his absence paving the way for Blues hooker Kurt Eklund, who has impressed since taking the injured James Parson's place, to be included in the North Island squad.
"It's his other leg so not a re-injury. He's not too bad but it was such a marginal decision to get him right for this game and we wanted to make an early call."
"There's a chance he could become available in that late October-early November period."
Two test loose forward Luke Jacobson made his return in the Chiefs final match against the Hurricanes but, given his lack of game time, Foster has instead given the 23-year-old a chance to rebuild his body and push his case with Waikato in the Mitre 10 Cup.
All Blacks and Chiefs prop Atu Moli had surgery on his hip that will probably rule him out for the remainder of the year, while Highlanders lock Pari Pari Parkinson (ankle) and Crusaders second-rower Quinten Strange (chest) suffered knocks in their final matches which took them out of contention for the North-South fixture.
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HAHAHAHA typical.. there is no where near 90% of the top players in Europe Nick. Those playing in Brazil and Argentina still are probably better that 90% of the none top 5 european leagues.
Even just because these australians are in Europe, does not make them better than those at home. And that goes for nearly all the nations with heavy representation in europe.
What you're trying to say is europe is were 90% of the money in football is, that would get your point across better.
Go to commentsScott Robertson wants his men to push through and sight their targets to help minimise errors from rushed and frustrating brain explosions.
This test match will highlight if the entire coaching staff can select from the All Blacks sqaud, a team capable of producing the necessary and silencing their critics.
Go the All Blacks...looking to have the rub of green again vs Ireland... onwards and upwards.
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