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Uncapped Hurricanes prop called up by the All Blacks
By Ben Smith
The All Blacks have called up uncapped Hurricanes prop Tevita Mafileo as injury cover for the trip to Argentina as they prepare for their Rugby Championship opener.
Doubts over the fitness of Crusaders tighthead Fletcher Newell, who hasn't played since undergoing toe surgery, led to the selection.
Mafileo will join the squad in Auckland and fly out to Argentina on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Hurricanes prop played for the All Blacks XV last November and was named as one of five props in the XV squad to tour Japan but will now provide cover for the All Blacks.
Chiefs breakout star Shaun Stevenson is tipped to travel with the squad as Mark Telea battles injury, while Crusaders pair Leicester Fainga'anuku and Sam Whitelock also are in doubt.
Fainga'anuku has a calf complaint after the Super Rugby final while Whitelock played through an Achilles injury against the doctor's recommendation.
The All Blacks 'didn't want him to play' but the veteran managed to get through unscathed without further injury and is now battling soreness.
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Latest Comments
was I right to infer that you assumed a 1:1 correspondence between points and places?
If so why were you so evasive about admitting that?
I've typed out a reply regarding the pool format but I won't send it if you don't answer my question.
Go to commentsFoster should never have been appointed, and I never liked him as a coach, but the hysteria over his coaching and Sam Cane as a player was grounded in prejudice rather than fact.
The New Zealand Rugby public were blinded by their dislike of Foster to the point of idiocy.
Anything the All Blacks did that was good was attributed to Ryan and Schmidt and Fozzie had nothing to do with it.
Any losses were solely blamed on Foster and Cane.
Foster did develop new talent and kept all the main trophies except the World Cup.
His successor kept the core of his team as well as picking Cane despite him leaving for overseas because he saw the irreplaceable value in him.
Razor will take the ABs to the next level, I have full confidence in that.
He should have been appointed in 2020.
But he wasn’t. And the guy who was has never been treated fairly.
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