THE BREAKDOWN
GHOSTS OF NO 10 HAUNT ALL BLACKS
There was always going to be one player whose World Cup dream was shattered by injury during Super Rugby.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen reckons there will almost certainly be more – a point he made when he announced that Chiefs first-five-cum-fullback Damian McKenzie had ripped knee ligaments and wouldn’trecover in time to be selected for the World Cup squad.
It brought back a few memories – an All Blacks No 10 damaging his knee in World Cup year.
It happened, somewhat eerily to McKenzie’S former Chiefs team-mate Aaron Cruden in April 2015. Cruden suffered the same injury, in the same month, playing for the same team.
And of course it happened way more dramatically at the 2011 World Cup when first Dan Carter was ruled out during the tournament, then his understudy Colin Slade only last lasted one and half games before his knee gave way.
Cruden was called up and he played the semi-final and 20 minutes of the final before he too was carried off and then came Stephen Donald…as we all know.
So New Zealanders can be a little paranoid about their first-fives in World Cup year and it was a significant blow to lose McKenzie.
The 23-year-old was a certainty to make
