Caleb Clarke’s All Blacks recall has been delayed after the team announced Friday he had suffered an ankle injury and wouldn’t play the second Test against France.
In a statement, the All Blacks said Clarke was injured during Thursday’s training run, ruling him out of Saturday’s match in Wellington.
He will miss the rest of the July series.
Waikato Chiefs winger Emoni Narawa was initially named in the All Blacks squad as injury cover, and will come into the starting side on the right wing.
Rieko Ioane will move to the left, where he played in the 31-27 win in Dunedin.
The late shift comes as captain Scott Barrett and wing Sevu Reece also sit out through injury.
Stand-in skipper Ardie Savea, speaking at the end of a rain-soaked captain’s run at Sky Stadium, said Clarke’s injury was “really unfortunate”.
“He’d been training well all week, and (it was) just a freak accident.
“(Narawa) just stepped in and he’s flawlessly doing his job. When you’re in the All Blacks, if someone goes down, you have to be ready to step up.”
It wasn’t a vintage All Blacks performance a week ago in Dunedin, with Scott Robertson’s team struggling to dominate against a France team with 20 debutants in the 42-man squad.
‘More clinical’
New Zealand did have three tries disallowed, but errors or ill discipline put paid to their efforts.
“I think we’ve just got to be more clinical and play in the right areas of the field,” Savea said of Saturday’s second fixture.
“Credit to the French, last week they put us under pressure and they stayed with us, so we’ve got to be clinical in the right areas of the field and finish.”
France made 10 changes to the starting side for the second Test, and expectation is high that in wet and windy conditions they could cause a major headache for the hosts.
“We’ve learned that any team that the All Blacks play, they turn up, play their best footy,” Savea said.
“We saw that with the French last week. For us it doesn’t matter who we play, we’ve just got to turn up because we know they’re going to be great on the weekend.”
Back in France, All Blacks legend Ma’a Nonu had signed a new one-year contract with Toulon to continue playing until the age of 44.
Savea followed the same pathway to the All Blacks as Nonu, starting with Rongotai College in Wellington before moving to club rugby, Wellington’s provincial team, and then the Hurricanes in Super Rugby.
“He’s a community man and when he came around to the club rooms when I was a little kid, he gave everyone a whole buzz,” Savea said.
“For him to still be playing, mate, someone needs to study him. He’s been massive and huge. He was our light in our community to go all the way and be a great All Black, so yeah, huge inspiration. Still my idol to this day.”
Would Savea follow Nonu’s footsteps further, and still be playing in 2038, at age 44.
“I don’t know. You’ve got to ask my wife.”
AFP
