Steve Hansen provides a concerning update on Brodie Retallick
- 1900
All Blacks' head coach Steve Hansen gave a concerning update on Brodie Retallick having announced his squad for the Rugby World Cup.
Hansen confirmed that Brodie Retallick won’t be available to the current World Champions until the quarter-finals of the showpiece event, at the very earliest.
Retallick suffered a dislocated shoulder in the draw against South Africa in Wellington last month and was escorted from the pitch during the second half.
Originally, the All Blacks coaching staff put no timeline on the lock’s recovery timeline but shoulder dislocations tend to sideline players for 12-16 weeks.
Hansen told reporters that “His [Retallick] shoulder’s still sore,”
“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 quarterfinals.
“At this point, we’ve rolled the dice to take him for that quarterfinal and we’ll see what happens from there.”
Retallick's match fitness could cause further concern for New Zealand supporters with the second rower having been sidelined for most of the Super Rugby season with a broken and featured in just 9 of the Chiefs' 17 matches.
