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Two more All Blacks struck down by injury at the Crusaders
By Ben Smith
Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson was announced as the new All Blacks coach yesterday but returns to his club with bad news following the side's 34-28 victory over the Blues at Eden Park.
The Crusaders injury toll has deepened with the loss of two more All Blacks in Sevu Reece and Sam Whitelock.
Right wing Reece was forced from the field early in the second half and did not return to action and is now suspected to have suffered a serious long-term knee injury.
The 26-year-old joins fellow All Black backs David Havili, Will Jordan and Jack Goodhue on the sidelines after four rounds of Super Rugby, while hat-trick hero Leicester Fainga'anuku revealed he played the game with damaged rib cartilage.
The loss of Reece further challenges the Crusaders depth out wide as the injury toll grows.
Youngsters Macca Springer, Chay Fihaki and former Blues winger Melani Nanai will be expected to step in and fill the void.
The other injury for the Crusaders is All Black lock Sam Whitelock, who suffered a broken hand and will potentially spend the next couple of months on the sidelines.
The veteran All Black lock joins forwards Fletcher Newell, Oli Jager, Mitch Dunshea and Cullen Grace on the injury list.
Whitelock's timeline for recovery won't impact his availability for the All Blacks but less is known for Reece who could now miss the World Cup.
All Blacks blindside flanker Shannon Frizell was also a late withdrawal in the Highlanders clash against the Western Force, suffering a groin injury in the warm-up just minutes before the game.
The Highlanders also lost hooker Andrew Makalio to a head knock in that clash and was forced from the field early in the first half.
All Blacks current injury list after round four of Super Rugby Pacific:
Crusaders: Will Jordan, Jack Goodhue, David Havili, Cullen Grace, Sam Whitelock, Sevu Reece, Fletcher Newell
Highlanders: Shannon Frizell
Chiefs: Angus Ta’avao, Josh Lord, Atu Moli, Quinn Tupaea, Tupou Vaa’i, Anton Lienert-Brown
Hurricanes: TJ Perenara
Blues: Patrick Tuipulotu, Akira Ioane, Ofa Tu’ungafasi (concussion protocols), Alex Hodgman
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I think we need to get innovative with the new laws.
Now red cards are only 20 minutes, Razor should send Finau on a head hunting mission to hospitalise their 10 with a shoulder to the chops.
Give the conspiracy theorists a win.
Go to commentsEngland played well enough to win but couldnt score when they needed to and couldnt defend a couple of X-Factor moments from Telea which was ultimately the difference. They needed to hold the ball more and make the AB's make more tackles. Territorially they were good for the first 60. Defending their lead and playing pragmatic rugby in the last 20 was silly. The AB's always had the potential to come back. England still have a long way to go, definite progress would have been shown had they won but it seems they are still stuck where they were shortly after the six nations and their tour to NZ
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