New Zealand’s unfamiliarity with English rugby was evident on Tuesday
when lock Brodie Retallick was unable to name one member of Stuart
Lancaster’s touring party.
Asked if he knew any England player ahead of Saturday’s series
opener, Retallick responded “a couple”. When pressed for a name, the
second row said “Michael Lawes”. Retallick appeared to mean Courtney Lawes, who is en route to New
Zealand having helped Northampton win the Aviva Premiership final last
weekend and is unavailable for the first Test.
Meanwhile, England’s prospects of delivering an
unlikely victory in Saturday’s first Test improved
after Kieran Read was ruled out of the series opener at Eden Park.
The All Blacks head coach, Steve Hansen,
revealed that Read, who has been sidelined since April with concussion, woke up
on Monday morning “not feeling the best”. The reigning IRB player of the year made his
comeback for the Crusaders on Saturday only to subsequently suffer a recurrence
of the symptoms that have troubled him for the last month. A doubt now hangs
over the No8’s involvement in the series, while winger Julian Savea is also a
doubt for the opener due to a knee problem.
“We’re not prepared to risk him playing and that’s our decision, not his,
and we’ll progress that day by day,” Hansen said of Read’s situation. “Long
term I’m not too concerned, but we’re just not prepared risk him this week.
“He’s frustrated, as you would be,
but we’re very lucky we’ve got capable people who can fill his place. Jerome Kaino and Victor Vito have been performing very well and Liam Messam is
an incumbent. We’ve got some good people to step up.”
Steven Luatua has been drafted into New
Zealand’s training squad for Saturday to cover for Read.
The All Blacks have also lost Sam Cane
to a knee injury for the series, although he was not expected to feature in the
matchday 23. Matt Todd has been called up to plug the gap.
Savea will undergo a scan on Tuesday,
with a decision on his availability made in time for Thursday’s team
announcement.
Read’s loss will be keenly felt with the free-roaming back row among New
Zealand’s most influential players, but Hansen refuses to overstate the impact
his absence will have. “Losing players is only disruptive if we allow it
to be. Rugby is a contact sport, we’re going to have people get injured and we
just have to deal with that,” Hansen said.
Local bookmakers have installed New Zealand as overwhelming 1-16
favourites to prevail at Eden Park with England rated 8-1.
Article source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/10870656/Money-at-the-root-of-evil-cricket-and-rugby-schedules.html
All Blacks" Brodie Retallick can"t name single England player
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