McCaw out for 3 weeks

Turns out he injured his rib was injured in the 1st or 2nd test. He's broken it now. No rugby for three weeks.

yes saw that...thought he said thre weeks. Good chance to give someone else a go anyway. Our second 7 isnt so obvious now and certainly isnt getting enough gametime.

Taylorman wrote:yes saw that...thought he said thre weeks. Good chance to give someone else a go anyway. Our second 7 isnt so obvious now and certainly isnt getting enough gametime.

You're right, corrected....

McCaw played through 2.5 tests with that broken rib. Courageous or crazy!! Not sure which

Hope Shane Christie gets a chance if the injury drags on into Rugby Championship

when's cane back from injury?

Was wondering why he shoveled the ball on a lot before contact in the last test, thought that was un McCaw like.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:when's cane back from injury?

Radio Sport interviewed him. He thinks he'll be lucky to make field by the super 15 final (the Chiefs wont get there anyway). Chances he thinks he'll then have to miss the Rugby Championship, play for Bay of Plenty in the IPC and try and get on the end of year tour.

How old is McCaw now, it seems he is forever struggling with an injury, is Steve Hansen serious about taking McCaw to the World Cup?

33 and as likely to be at RWC as half the current Bok side Matfield etc.

Matfield isn't struggling with injuries.

A broken rib is not an injury like creaking knees though biltong.

Guys, no need to be so defensive, I am asking as I have seen precious little of McCaw this season.

I didn't think AB fans were sentimental about their players…clearly McCaw is being nursed and is a shadow of his former self, were there any real contenders for his place he would have to have been dropped by now.

Cane was injured and Todd was coming back from injury. McCaw shouldn't be playing with these injuries but he does it for the team. He deserves a break from S15 because Todd is now match fit and I hope Cane gets some game time in the RC. Plenty of time to get McCaw match fit.

Been a long time since an Aucklander in the number seven jersey. Give Luke Braid a go. he may be a bit stupid but wont leave anyone wondering.

yeah...dont see the problem. McCaws not the force he was as a player. If hes playing with injuries I hope its a team decision to play rather than an individual one. Doesn.t sound like him to take that risk. Explain please Ritchie.

Biltong wrote:Guys, no need to be so defensive, I am asking as I have seen precious little of McCaw this season.

He's is getting on a bit. The hope is he'll go for another year. He is getting to the point, when you're worried he might lose speed, break bits etc. He's spent a fair bit of this season injured already. Backup's a bit interesting. canes the obvious choice, but he's recovering from a compression fracture. I'm guessing Matt Todd is next. the selectors are fond of Braid or Latimer, and Ardie Savea's still a work in progress.

Its not rocket science is it?he thought he had bruised ribs,Read wasn't expected to go
more than 40 minutes.Cane `s injured,Todd just back from injury and inexperienced
so he played for the good of the team.
He`s been rubbished by the media who should have known better and still led the
tackles stats,first to the breakdown.etc.
He`s not as quick as he used to be ?wow there are some genii here to work that out
that's judging him by his standards not others.
Its a leadership thing he`d been rubbished and wanted to prove otherwise.

blackcanelion wrote:

Biltong wrote:Guys, no need to be so defensive, I am asking as I have seen precious little of McCaw this season.

He's is getting on a bit. The hope is he'll go for another year. He is getting to the point, when you're worried he might lose speed, break bits etc. He's spent a fair bit of this season injured already. Backup's a bit interesting. canes the obvious choice, but he's recovering from a compression fracture. I'm guessing Matt Todd is next. the selectors aren't fond of Braid or Latimer, and Ardie Savea's still a work in progress.

Bit of typo. Turns out Luke Braids injured as well. Hansen's come out and said he's had to work with McCaw., to keep his confidence up following criticism in the NZ media. I suspect that given, he's missed a bit of the season, and has been injured he's possibly guilty of trying to hard. He's still very effective, both as a player an a captain. When you just follow him, I'm still amazed by the volume of work he gets through and how effective he is.

blackcanelion wrote:

blackcanelion wrote:

Biltong wrote:Guys, no need to be so defensive, I am asking as I have seen precious little of McCaw this season.

He's is getting on a bit. The hope is he'll go for another year. He is getting to the point, when you're worried he might lose speed, break bits etc. He's spent a fair bit of this season injured already. Backup's a bit interesting. canes the obvious choice, but he's recovering from a compression fracture. I'm guessing Matt Todd is next. the selectors aren't fond of Braid or Latimer, and Ardie Savea's still a work in progress.

Bit of typo. Turns out Luke Braids injured as well. Hansen's come out and said he's had to work with McCaw., to keep his confidence up following criticism in the NZ media. I suspect that given, he's missed a bit of the season, and has been injured he's possibly guilty of trying to hard. He's still very effective, both as a player an a captain. When you just follow him, I'm still amazed by the volume of work he gets through and how effective he is.

With Braid and Cane both out, or coming back from injury I'd like to see Shane Christie get a go if McCaw can't recover. His name's not mentioned often, but for me him and Kaino have been the stand out kiwi loose forwards in Super Rugby. On form alone he surely must get a crack, rather than rolling out injured/recovering players.

I can't see it happening given the fact that Hansen is sticking with as much of the old guard as possible (with a couple of exceptions E.G Fekitoa). NZ certainly has an abundance of depth, but at what point do you start using some of it based on form, rather than sticking with some players due to sentimentality.

Whilst they're looking at openside, I'd love them to look at Hooker - Coles and Mealamu are ineffective this season and have been throughout Super rugby also. They need to get other guys in before the World Cup hits and it's too late to do much about it as far as combination building goes.

My two cents.

blackcanelion wrote:

blackcanelion wrote:

Biltong wrote:Guys, no need to be so defensive, I am asking as I have seen precious little of McCaw this season.

He's is getting on a bit. The hope is he'll go for another year. He is getting to the point, when you're worried he might lose speed, break bits etc. He's spent a fair bit of this season injured already. Backup's a bit interesting. canes the obvious choice, but he's recovering from a compression fracture. I'm guessing Matt Todd is next. the selectors aren't fond of Braid or Latimer, and Ardie Savea's still a work in progress.

Bit of typo. Turns out Luke Braids injured as well. Hansen's come out and said he's had to work with McCaw., to keep his confidence up following criticism in the NZ media. I suspect that given, he's missed a bit of the season, and has been injured he's possibly guilty of trying to hard. He's still very effective, both as a player an a captain. When you just follow him, I'm still amazed by the volume of work he gets through and how effective he is.

I can't see it. He's 28 and hasn't been in the AB's. Whilst that shouldn't eliminate him, the reality is the selectors will have one eye on the world cup and the other on the current team. IMO they're more likely to play Todd. He's been in the squad, knows the systems and selectors are comfortable with him. It sounds like McCaw will be back for RC anyway.

Undoubtedly one of the all Time greats, however, Time waits for no man.

As a neutral I can't wait for Ardie Savea to start getting caps, not sure how much control he'll bring but just for entertainment purposes I think he'll be top draw.

On that note what happened to the massive 6/8 you guys played in the RC and AI's last season? Can't remember his name now but he was very impressive too.

Is Luke Braid related to the Braid at Sale in the AP? If so and he's anything like his bro he could be one to watch too.

Luke Braid is the son of former All Black lock Gary braid, and brother of former All black openside flanker Daniel Braid.

Yappy Luatua has slipped out of the squad with the inclusion of Kaino. He covered lock and 6 but really he was only a 6. Vito is a good example of putting your head down and regaining favour. He's good enough to come back. He just needs to tighten up more. He had good games against Australia because he was a free range chicken but against teams like SA he wasn't trusted and he didn't have a good game against Ireland.

I think Cane stood up well with Eden Park a watershed moment. We have cover but bad timing with injuries like the RWC 10 issue.