All Blacks v France: Tamaiti Williams ruled out of series
All Blacks prop Tamaiti Williams has been ruled out of the three-test series against France after requiring knee surgery.
Williams pulled up with a painful knee following the Super Rugby Final, and scans have revealed a torn meniscus.
Assessment by a surgeon this morning has confirmed surgery will be required.
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Another blow for All Blacks as Williams is ruled out of French series
All Blacks prop Tamaiti Williams is out of the French series due to a knee injury which requires surgery. Described today as one of the best looseheads in the world by head coach Scott Robertson, Williams' withdrawal due to a torn meniscus comes after he started for the Crusaders in their Super Rugby Pacific final victory over the Chiefs. Williams, who suffered the tear in the qualifier win over the Reds, probably surprised Robertson by making himself available for that match in Christchurch recently and afterwards struggled to straighten his leg. Asked today ahead of Saturday's first Test against France about the wisdom of Williams playing, Robertson replied: 'Well, he played and we're here right now, so they're the facts.' The similarities with the case of Crusaders lock Sam Whitelock, who played in the 2023 Super Rugby final despite an Achilles injury and was then unavailable for several Tests afterwards, are obvious. ADVERTISEMENT 'Players want to play and they want to compete,' said Robertson, who was Whitelock's Super Rugby coach at the time. 'That's the scenario at the moment.' Williams will be sidelined for up to eight weeks. George Bower has been called into the squad to replace Williams and is the latest to be included in what was originally a 33-player squad. Loose forward Wallace Sititi was ruled out late last week due to an ankle problem, leading to the inclusion of Dalton Papali'i as cover. No.8 Christian Lio-Willie was already in as cover for Luke Jacobson, who is following concussion protocols and will be unavailable for the first Test in Dunedin. Williams' injury means Ethan de Groot will almost certainly start the Test on home soil, with Ollie Norris likely to make his debut off the reserves bench. All Blacks midfielder Billy Proctor carries the ball against Japan last year. (Source: Photosport) ADVERTISEMENT Elsewhere, the drums are beating for Billy Proctor to start at centre, with incumbent Rieko Ioane starting on the left wing. Sky Sports presenters and former All Blacks Jeff Wilson, Justin Marshall and Mils Muliaina claimed on last night's Breakdown show that Proctor would be given the nod to start by Robertson, who will officially announce the team on Thursday. Such a scenario after he named six midfielders and only two dedicated wings in Caleb Clarke and Sevu Reece (assuming Will Jordan is regarded as a specialist fullback) in the squad, would not be a huge surprise. Should Proctor start, Jordie Barrett is almost certain to be named alongside him at second-five which would open up an opportunity for Quinn Tupaea to resume his Test career from the bench or possibly Timoci Tavatavanawai to make his international debut from there. For the All Blacks, the Test is an opportunity to put to use some harsh lessons from last year – Robertson's first. They won 10 from 14 Tests last year and had halftime leads in the games they lost – twice to the Boks, once to Argentina in Wellington and France in Paris. Such is the relative inexperience of this France squad that the All Blacks are unlikely to be under as much sustained pressure as they were the last time they played the Tricolors, but Robertson had a word of warning, saying: 'This is probably when they're at their most dangerous – when they're underestimated.' Referring to that 30-29 defeat to the Stade de France, Robertson said: 'A lot of our review in the off season was on that game because we gave ourselves so many opportunities to win it and we didn't. 'We probably had our best two weeks with the Irish [victory in Dublin] and the French but we probably didn't get the result we deserved and sometimes you get that in Tests.'
RNZ News
10 hours ago
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All Blacks lose key players ahead of opening test
An injury cloud hovers over the All Blacks ahead of the team's first game of the season as Scott Robertson has lost a couple of key players who will sit out the opening test against France this weekend. Sports reporter Jamie Wall spoke to Lisa Owen. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
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All Blacks countdown: ‘The goal is to play everyone'
All Blacks v France Kick-off: 7:05pm Saturday 5 July Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin Live blog updates on RNZ Sport Scott Robertson is intending to use all of his available squad plus injury replacements for the three test series with France. The season opens this Saturday in front of a sold out Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, and while the expectation is that he will name an experienced side on Thursday, all six new players will see the field in the next three weeks. "That's the art of it isn't it? You know, like, you want to give everyone a possible go," said Robertson in Auckland when asked about how he will manage his squad. "I've said look there's my plan to you know but we don't want to be held…on it because things do happen. But the goal is to play everyone, and you want to get some combinations, cohesion. That is our advantage at the moment. If we if we make it that way with guys that have played footy together, and then you get the balance of how many changes over the series." Prop Ollie Norris, hooker Brodie McAlister, lock Fabian Holland, loose forwards Du'Plessis Kirifi and Christian Lio-Willie, and midfielder Timoci Tavatavanawai are all in line to become test players after strong Super Rugby Pacific seasons. Du'Plessis Kirifi, Fabian Holland and Timoci Tavatavanawai. Photo: Michael Bradley/ActionPress However, the news isn't as great for prop Tamaiti Williams , who will require surgery on his knee. The injury will keep him sidelined for six to eight weeks, a big blow for the powerful All Black front row rotation. Williams injured the knee against the Reds in the Crusaders' play-off match against the Reds, however returned to play in the final a fortnight later. "It's tough, you know, he's obviously been in great form. But he'll rehab quickly and he's in good hands," said Robertson. The All Black coach stopped short of addressing whether or not Williams should have played the final, which the Crusaders won 19-12 over the Chiefs. "Well he played and we're here right now. So they're the facts." Fellow Crusaders George Bower has come into the squad as injury cover and looks set to resume his test career after last playing for the All Blacks in 2022. Photo: PhotoSport / Martin Hunter Robertson said that while France have sent an understrength team, the All Blacks still had plenty to play for. They have lost to the French three times in a row over the last four years and haven't beaten them since 2018. "One thing with the French is they've got depth. (Coach Fabien Galthié)'s created depth previously over the last six years that he's had the squad. All those young, exciting players that've come through, French rugby's in good stead, in a good position." Robertson is expecting a tough battle when the series begins. "This is when they're probably at the most dangerous, when they're underestimated, aren't they? It's quite nice that (the media) tell the story, that they're depleted and all that, and then they get their backs up and then we get a ferocious French team."
