Mike Fitzgerald
The Chiefs will have at least 1 of their specialist locks back from injury to take on the Highlanders in Invercargill on Saturday but that might be all.
Lock Mike FitzGerald is good to go after missing the last match against the Bulls and most of the previous 1 against the Hurricanes with a particularly bad haematoma on his thigh, but there are still doubts over both star All Blacks 2nd rowers Brodie Retallick and concussed Englishman Matt Symons.
Retallick has now missed 3 matches with the shoulder injury he picked up in the Chiefs’ win over the Force in Hamilton, having missed 5 weeks of the competition earlier in the season when he hurt his other shoulder.
He took part in training yesterday morning, but head coach Dave Rennie said there was still a question mark over him this week as he works on regaining strength in his shoulder.
“We’ll get confirmation from our medics and he’ll have a pretty light day today anyway and we’ll know a bit more tomorrow, make a decision based on how he bounces back from today,” Rennie said.
“He’s really close but could well end up playing against the Reds instead, because we certainly don’t want to push him if he’s not a a hundred percent and lose him for the rest of the competition.”
With flatmates Michael Allardice and Johan Bardoul both gone for the season with medial collateral ligament knee injuries and Symons again partway through concussion protocols – as he was last week until his headaches reoccurred – the Chiefs have retained the services of veteran All Black Ross Filipo for at least another week, along with young Waikato lock Brian Alainu’uese.
“I wouldn’t say we’re confident about Symons’ chances of playing and again we won’t take a risk with him. He took his knock against the Rebels so it has been a few weeks, but he is on the improve. We’re hopeful but no guarantees.”
Meanwhile the injuries also continue out in the backline with Sonny Bill Williams set to miss his 3rd match in a row with a back strain that has been slow to mend and fullback Tom Marshall joining him on the sideline after he copped a knee injury against the Bulls.
Because of that, young centre Anton Lienert-Brown will now not go to the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Italy, replaced in the New Zealand team that leaves on Wednesday night by Taranaki’s Sean Wainui.
“With the injuries we’ve got at the moment – obviously with Tom Marshall, James Lowe, Aaron Cruden and Sonny Bill Williams plus a question mark over a couple of the other guys he’s now going to remain here.
“There are a number of these guys who are injured at the moment that we hope to get back in 2 or 3 weeks and that will make a big difference,” Rennie said.
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