All Blacks to be without two quality players

New Zealand will be without two of their star players ahead of their upcoming match against South Africa this coming weekend.

Brodie Retallick and Ngani Laumape are said to out of the game after the duo came off in the 46-24 win over Argentina in Nelson on Saturday. Retallick suffered a shoulder injury, while Laumape came off with a knee injury after just 10 minutes of play. Brodie Retallick who plays as a lock is expected to undergo a scan early this week to determine the extent of the injury, while Laumape is certain to miss a couple of weeks due to the knee injury.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has since called in Patrick Tuipulotu to the squad to provide cover for Retallick. Hansen, commenting on the injury said: "Patrick will come in and Brodie will get scanned on Monday and then we’ll have a better idea how long he’ll be, but it could be a maximum six weeks". The two time World Cup-winning coach went on to say further, "Hopefully that will be all. Minimum maybe three, so he’ll be out for a wee while. Ngani’s got grade-one ligament damage so he’ll be two to three weeks.”

The injury to Retallick might pave the way for Sam Whitelock to come into the fold where he starts alongside Scott Barrett. Anton Lienert Brown may also get his chance to shine in the starting 15 having impressed when coming off the bench against the Pumas in that 22-point win on Saturday.

New Zealand face the Springboks on Saturday 15th of September in Wellington, before going on to play Argentina two weeks later in Argentina, and then finishing the rugby championship off with a difficult assignment against the Springboks at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria which has a grand capacity of 52,000.