For the All Blacks, it has been another week and another tour-ending injury, with coach Dave Rennie confirming on Monday that prop Ollie Norris has been sent home with a knee injury.
The All Blacks have been in South Africa for four weeks, and Norris is the fourth player to have his tour ended by injury.
The biggest loss has been powerful winger Caleb Clarke, who had been almost certain to start in Saturday’s first Test against the Springboks at Ellis Park before suffering a serious shoulder injury against the Stormers.
Another strong contender for the Test, Billy Proctor, fractured his shoulder blade against the Sharks, while prop George Bell was ruled out of the tour after suffering a calf injury during a jogging session.
Rennie has called up Highlanders prop Saula Ma’u as cover for Norris. At 142kg and 1.94m, Ma’u is a formidable physical presence and was considered unlucky by many not to make the original tour party.
“Injuries are a part of the game,” Rennie said on Monday. “You always hope for the best, but these are big injury collisions, outside of George Bell.
“Look at Billy Proctor’s injury over jackalling a ball — he got hit at an unfortunate angle.
“For Caleb, it was quite amazing really, because we think he did well that first half, catching balls above his head and charging into people. That is adrenaline for you.
“It’s sad for those guys to have their tours over so early, but it’s the nature of the game.”
The All Blacks also have concerns over scrumhalf Cortez Ratima, who left Saturday’s win over the Bulls after taking a knock to his knee. As a precaution, Rennie has called up Noah Hotham as scrumhalf cover.
“Cortez has had a scan. It’s a PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) injury,” Rennie said. “But we’re going to see how it is over the next 48 hours; we are a little bit thin at nine as it is.
“Getting Noah in will be good, and we expect Cam Roigard to be ready to go on the weekend against the Boks. We’ve still got Kyle Preston if Cortez is not good, and we will need Noah to play on the Tuesday against the Lions.”
There are also question marks over first-choice fullback Damian McKenzie, who limped off against the Sharks with a sprained ankle.
“We are hopeful about Damian,” Rennie said.
“He had a light run on Sunday and did a bit more work with the physio this morning.
“He’ll play a limited part in the session this Monday afternoon. We’re hoping to get him running by Tuesday so that we will know a bit more in the next 24 hours.”
