Reuters
[Photo Credit: Rugby Pass]
Loose forward Ethan Blackadder has been called into the New Zealand squad for the Rugby World Cup as an injury replacement for winger Emoni Narawa, coach Ian Foster said.
Narawa was ruled out of the tournament with a back injury earlier in the week, but Foster said Blackadder’s inclusion was as much a reaction to captain Sam Cane being a late injury withdrawal from Friday’s opening loss to France.
Cane joined flanker Shannon Frizell, prop Tyrell Lomax and centre Jordie Barrett in the treatment room but Foster did not rule out his skipper playing a part in the second Pool A match against Namibia next Friday.
Foster said Frizell, who has a hamstring problem, would definitely not be fit to face Namibia and Lomax was unlikely to have recovered from a cut that caused muscle damage to his leg that he sustained in a warm-up loss to South Africa.
There was a better prognosis for Jordie Barrett’s sore knee, he said.
One positive from Friday’s defeat was lock Brodie Retallick, returning ahead of schedule from a knee injury, moving onto the bench in the rejig after Cane’s withdrawal and coming on as a second-half replacement.
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