Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan has calmed fears of a serious injury to Anton Lienert-Brown after the Chiefs and All Blacks midfielder was stretchered off in their win over the Fijian Drua on Saturday night.
Lienert-Brown, who has missed significant game time over the last two years dueto injuries, left the field on a medicab 64 minutes into his side’s 46-29 win after an unusual chain of events.
The Chiefs were on the attack and the 28-year-old had just broken the Drua defensive line with some slick footwork to beat four defenders. As he was being tackled by Drua midfielder Iosefo Masi, Lienert-Brown freed his arm and got an offload away before hitting the turf.
It was an innocuous passage of play, but as the next phase went on, Lienert-Brown lay prone face down on the field about 40m out from the Drua try line.
Play was soon stopped as the Chiefs medical team rushed onto the field, before Lienert-Brown was transported off the pitch five minutes later.
Speaking about the incident after the game, McMillan said there was a lot of initial concern around Lienert-Brown’s neck, but the star centre was okay aside from failing his head injury assessment.
“It’s good to see him walking around. He suffered a pretty heavy head knock there, just landing funny on the ground,” McMillan said.
“He’s getting a bit of stick now for getting walking out, saluting the crowd and walking around like nothing happened but we’re happy he’s okay.”
Anton Lienert-Brown was taken from the field on a stretcher during the Chiefs' win over the Fijian Drua. Photo / Photosport
Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson said he didn’t see it live and didn’t see the replay, but said “it looked pretty bad there for a stage”.
“It’s good to see him up, moving around and having a bit of a laugh. That’s the main thing.”
Whether or not Lienert-Brown will be cleared to play when the Chiefs meet the Highlanders next Saturday afternoon remains to be seen, but they have the luxury of depth in their ranks should he be forced out of action.
Rameka Poihipi was strong at second five-eighths alongside Lienert-Brown before being replaced by Quinn Tupaea with about 25 minutes to go, while Daniel Rona continues to prove his value to his side.
Rona emerged on the scene last year as injury cover for the Chiefs, with all five of his starts coming in the No 13 jersey, and he started at centre in last weekend’s loss to the Reds.
On Saturday, he started on the right wing as the Chiefs are still without Emoni Narawa. It was the first time Rona had made a start on the wing at either Super Rugby or NPC level, but he looked comfortable and was able to put his mark on the contest with a try and two assists.
“He looked like he’d played a few games out there tonight,” Jacobson said of Rona’s performance.
With Narawa a chance to return for the Highlanders game, Rona could be freed up to move back in.
“We’ve been light in our outside backs,” McMillan added of the selection. “[Liam] Coombes-Fabling, he needed a rest after a pretty big load and Etene [Nanai-Seturo] was out last week.
“We’re fairly light there, but hopefully if Emoni comes back that might ease the burden a little bit but it was great to see Rona make a very good fist of it.”
