2017 Bledisloe Cup & Rugby Championship (4 Nations)
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That week off has come at a fortuitous time.
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All Blacks prop Owen Franks has been ruled out for the remainder of the rugby season due to his ongoing Achilles injury.
Franks, who had already been ruled out of the Rugby Championship, will now also miss the end-of-year tour after deciding to undergo surgery.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11916787
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even with Cane cleared, surely be a good opportunity to give Ardie a start
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Hansen said on Monday that Cane's injury made them think who was next in the loose forward pecking order.
He said they settled on Gibson because he was good over the ball and had performed well for NZ U20 in the past even though he had had a lot of injuries.
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Good to get Gibson out of that Auckland enviroment and into a proper one.
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@African-Monkey like North Harbour
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@taniwharugby Yep, as long as it isn't Auckland or Northland he should be sweet......
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@Tim The Actual quotes from Hansen:
"With Matt Todd getting injured it created a thought process of 'gee whizz, who is next?'," Hansen said. "It came down to Blake and the two Otago boys Lentjies and Hunt, and we just felt let's have a look at Blake this week and get some better information on him. You can watch as many games as you like but having him in your training environment is good and in the next wee while we'll probably have a look at the other two as well.
"[Blake] is good over the ball - he's a strong, physical player, his history in the game is pretty good. He's a New Zealand under-20 player with a lot of talent and has done a good job, although he's copped a few injuries, with the Blues and Auckland."
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Steve Hansen has hinted that flying winger Nehe Milner-Skudder could be returning to the All Blacks immediately.
Milner-Skudder, 26, hasn't featured for the All Blacks since the 2015 World Cup final, with a shoulder injury ruling him out of nearly all of 2016, before an ankle injury kept him on the sidelines during the British and Irish Lions series earlier this year. Hansen though, says that the livewire could be back in the black jersey in the near future. "He's excited and itching for a game," Hansen said. "When we think he's ready, that'll happen."The title is misleading:
Next question journalist: "Are you implying that you don't think he's ready at the moment?"
Hansen: "No, I'm just saying 'when he is ready, we'll play him. He has been out of the environment for a wee while, we had some guys playing really well - Rieko has been on fire, Daggy until we went on a break was on fire, so we just see how things go."
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All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen threw the names of Tim Perry, Pauliasi Manu and the injured Mitchell Graham up as players who could potentially join the squad as training cover, but not with huge conviction.
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@Tim said in 2017 Bledisloe Cup & Rugby Championship (4 Nations):
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen threw the names of Tim Perry, Pauliasi Manu and the injured Mitchell Graham up as players who could potentially join the squad as training cover, but not with huge conviction.
Would have to be Manu surely. He may not have the complete skill set they desire but would hold his own in the scrums easily.
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