'He rolled the dice': All Black veteran a doubt for Rugby Champs opener

NEWS: Lock Samuel Whitelock is a doubt for the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship opener against Argentina after playing through an achilles injury in the Super Rugby Pacific Final.

The forward put in a man-of-the-match performance in his final game for the Crusaders as they beat the Chiefs to win the title last weekend and New Zealand coach Ian Foster said on Wednesday the 34-year-old was “pretty sore”.

“He didn’t train today [Wednesday],” Foster told reporters in Auckland. “We just have to see how he transitions in the next week or two.

“He made a decision based on all the medical advice he got, and in many senses rolled the dice and got through it.

“But he’s not right to train, so we have just got to deal with what we’ve got.”

New Zealand face the Pumas in Mendoza on July 8 before hosting the Springboks in their second match in the Southern Hemisphere Test competition, which has been truncated this year because of the World Cup.

Foster selected a 36-man squad for the Rugby Championship two weeks ago, with the addition of uncapped outside back Shaun Stevenson as injury cover for wing Mark Telea, who has a hamstring problem.

Another wing, Leicester Fainga’anuku, has a calf problem and Foster said Stevenson was highly likely to travel to Argentina along with uncapped prop Tevita Mafileo, who has been brought in as cover for injured tighthead Fletcher Newell.

Foster said a replacement would not be brought into the squad for centre Anton Lienert-Brown, who could miss the whole championship after being banned for a dangerous tackle during the Super Rugby Final.

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