All Blacks suffer another HAMMER blow on the eve of Scott Robertson’s squad announcement
All Blacks scrum-half Cameron Roigard and an inset of head coach Scott Robertson.
The All Blacks injury list has hit double digits following the latest setback ahead of the Rugby Championship.
Scott Robertson will name his squad for the opening two rounds of the tournament on Monday, 9 August, but is contending with a growing injury list.
All Blacks’ injuries rack up
Beauden Barrett, Scott Barrett, Tupou Vaa’i, Tyrel Lomax, Caleb Clarke, Luke Jacobson and Noah Hotham all sustained setbacks in the mid-year internationals against France, with the All Blacks securing a 3-0 series victory.
Additionally, Wallace Sititi and Tamaiti Williams were ruled out before those Tests even began. Captain Barrett, Sititi and Williams are expected to be fit enough to be named in the All Blacks’ wider squad for the Argentina tour.
Lomax, Clarke, Jacobson and Hotham will all miss at least two games in the upcoming competition.
The latest setback, however, is arguably the biggest with the news that Cameron Roigard will not be available for the beginning of the Rugby Championship.
The scrum-half has sustained a fracture in his right foot. Roigard presented with pain in the foot following the conclusion of the July series and scans have confirmed the stress fracture.
He will not travel to Argentina, and his likely return to play will be assessed in two weeks, New Zealand Rugby confirmed.
After back-to-back matches against Los Pumas in Argentina, the All Blacks will return to New Zealand, where they will host the Springboks at Eden Park and Sky Stadium in Wellington.
Robertson’s charges will then host the Wallabies in Auckland before heading to Australia for the final round of the Rugby Championship. They will tackle the Wallabies at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
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All Blacks’ Rugby Championship Fixtures
Argentina v New Zealand
Date: Saturday, 16 August
Venue: Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Cordoba
Local kick-off: 18:10
GMT kick-off: 21:10
NZL kick-off: 9:10 (Sunday, 17 August)
AUS (AEST) kick-off: 7:10 (Sunday, 17 August)
RSA kick-off:23:10
ARG kick-off: 18:10
Argentina v New Zealand
Date: Saturday, 23 August
Venue: Vélez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires
Local kick-off: 18:10
GMT kick-off: 21:10
NZL kick-off: 9:10 (Sunday, 24 August)
AUS (AEST) kick-off: 7:10 (Sunday, 24 August)
RSA kick-off:23:10
ARG kick-off: 18:10
New Zealand v South Africa
Date: Saturday, 6 September
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Local kick-off: 19:05
GMT kick-off: 7:05
NZL kick-off: 19:05
AUS (AEST) kick-off: 17:05
RSA kick-off: 9:05
ARG kick-off: 4:05
New Zealand v South Africa
Date: Saturday, 13 September
Venue: Sky Stadium, Wellington
Local kick-off: 19:05
GMT kick-off: 7:05
NZL kick-off: 19:05
AUS (AEST) kick-off: 17:05
RSA kick-off: 9:05
ARG kick-off: 4:05
New Zealand v Australia
Date: Saturday, 27 September
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Local kick-off: 17:05
GMT kick-off: 5:05
NZL kick-off: 17:05
AUS (AEST) kick-off: 15:05
RSA kick-off: 7:05
ARG kick-off: 2:05
Australia v New Zealand
Date: Saturday, 4 October
Venue: Optus Stadium, Perth
Local kick-off: 17:45
GMT kick-off: 9:45
NZL kick-off: 22:45
AUS (AEST) kick-off: 19:45
RSA kick-off: 11:45
ARG kick-off: 6:45
