The All Blacks’ halfback crisis appears to be easing, with Noah Hotham in contention to feature in Saturday’s second test against the Springboks in Wellington.
Coach Scott Robertson confirmed the 22-year-old is in the mix after overcoming a high ankle sprain which required surgery, sustained in the All Blacks’ 29-19win over France in July.
It will ease the pressure on Robertson, who has had to dig deep into the halfback depth chart, with Cam Roigard and Cortez Ratima also sidelined through injury.
That saw Finlay Christie start against South Africa, while Kyle Preston made his debut off the bench in Saturday’s 24-17 win over South Africa at Eden Park, which saw the All Blacks extend their unbeaten run at their Auckland fortress to 51 matches.
Robertson confirmed that Roigard is tracking nicely but wouldn’t be fit to face South Africa.
Hotham isn’t the only player with a chance of returning in the capital, with winger Caleb Clarke and loose forward Luke Jacobson linking up with the team, having overcome an ankle and a thigh injury respectively.
Scott Robertson: "I think there'll be variations in their game plan." Photo / Mark Mitchell
Both players, who were initially named in Scott Robertson’s 42-man extended squad for the Rugby Championship, have turned out for Auckland and Waikato respectively in the NPC in their bids to return to full fitness.
On top of that, George Bell, who helped Canterbury win the Ranfurly Shield off Southland over the weekend, comes in for Codie Taylor, who has been ruled out after failing his head injury assessment on Saturday.
The other injury to come out of their seven-point win was Emoni Narawa, who sustained a rib injury shortly after scoring the opening try on Saturday.
Robertson said Narawa was feeling “very sore”.
“He had a great little cameo, didn’t he? A couple of nice touches,” Robertson said.
“I was just really pleased for him. He trained extremely well and he took the opportunity that he had, so we wish him all well wishes and best of health.”
Robertson said he expects South Africa will come out firing in Wellington.
The last time they played at the Cake Tin was in 2019, drawing 16-16.
The Springboks are naming their team tonight, while the All Blacks’ team will come out on Thursday afternoon.
Robertson said he’s not surprised to see them revert to their usual tactics.
“I think there’ll be variations in their game plan,” he said.
“They’ll have a little bit of innovation like they did last week, but they call the DNA, we know what it’s like.
