The Crusaders star All Black duo of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter are expected to miss the opening rounds of the 2012 Super Rugby season.
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder has decided to give the duo extra recovery time from the physical and mental effects of the Rugby World cup.
While Carter was injured almost half way through the tournament he and McCaw carried the weight of New Zealand’s expectation through the World cup.
Blackadder wants his captain and his vice captain to be fully refreshed by the time they start the Super Rugby season so they will miss the opening two or three rounds of Super Rugby.
Carter’s world cup ended when he tore a groin muscle the days before he was supposed to captain the All Blacks against Canada and the effects and damage of McCaw’s injury are not yet fully known.
All Black captain McCaw will see a specialist after he was forced to keep on playing with a swollen foot which prevented him from training through mots of the world cup.
“We are not sure about Richie’s injury,” Blackadder told The Press.
“We will make a decision after that (consulting a specialist).
Whatever he takes, he needs to get it right.”
Blackadder is however adamant that McCaw will play in next year’s Super Rugby tournament.
“He definitely will play. If he does it (an operation) straight away we should be sorted.”
“But we won’t really know until Thursday (when he consults the specialist). He probably shouldn’t have played at all, he really shouldn’t have been out there.
“He was lucky they didn’t X-ray him because it will probably have confirmed he shouldn’t have been.”
Blackadder is used to not having his captain available in the early rounds of Super rugby as McCaw missed early matches in the 2011 and Kieran Read proved to be an able captain but next season he wants more from his fetcher.
“I just want him to be fitter and stronger. I thought he did an incredible job (this year) but he needs to step it up. ”
“The second year is always your most challenging. The first year no-one seems to know you – perhaps they don’t respect you as much as they need to.”
It is highly likely that McCaw will need surgery and if the screw that was put into the metatarsal bone in his right foot needs to be replaced it could be everal months before can run again.
Carter is likely to resume training again in January but due to his importance he will not be rushed back into action.
Both Carter and McCaw have clauses in the NZRU contracts which allow them to miss the opening Super rugby round so it is likely that they will start the 2012 season in mid-March.
It is highly likely then that Blackadder will start Matt Todd in the No7 jersey against the Blues, Highlanders and Chiefs.