Brodie Retallick targeting quarter-final return

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen admits that star second-row Brodie Retallick will likely miss the World Cup pool stages, but is hopeful of having him available for the knockout rounds.

The 28-year-old suffered a dislocated shoulder following a ruck clearout by South Africa’s RG Snyman during their 16-16 Rugby Championship draw last month.

Retallick was named in the squad for the global tournament, alongside fellow locks Sam Whitelock, Patrick Tuipulotu and Scott Barrett, but the 77-times capped player will not be fit until mid-October at the earliest according to Hansen.

“His shoulder’s still sore,” he said. “We don’t expect him to play in the round-robin but we’re reasonably sure – no disrespect to anyone else in our pool – that we should make the quarter-finals.

Nasty looking injury for Brodie Retallick in the All Blacks v SA test. The ruck he got injured in had 7 players in. 6, arguably 7 were on the floor before reticl was taken out from the side. 🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/n0pxRj006N

— Ben Ryan (@benjaminryan) July 27, 2019

“At this point, we’ve rolled the dice to take him for that quarter-final and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Retallick has been a vital part of the New Zealand side since making his debut in 2012 and was named World Rugby Player of the Year in 2014.

However, injuries have hampered him over the past couple of seasons and the powerhouse second-row missed a proportion of the Super Rugby campaign due to a wrist problem.

He was also absent for much of the 2018 Rugby Championship before returning against Australia in the final Bledisloe Cup encounter.