The All Blacks say they are 'gutted' at key man Brodie Retallick being banned for two matches, ruling him out of Saturday’s Test against Wales at the Principality Stadium.
Second row Retallick, World Player of the Year in 2014 and a man with 99 caps to his name, was sent off during the 38-31 win over Japan in Tokyo on the weekend.
He received his red card in the 65th minute after driving his shoulder into the head of Japan back row Kazuki Himeno at a ruck.
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The 31-year-old was deemed guilty of an illegal clearout by an independent judicial committee and handed an initial three match ban, but that will be reduced by one week if he completes a coaching intervention programme.
So he will miss the Tests against Wales and Scotland, but be available to face England at Twickenham on November 19 in the final match of the tour.
Giving his reaction today, after a training session at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens, All Blacks coach Ian Foster said: “They have deemed he was guilty of a red card threshold. We accept that. It was a fair hearing.
“He has got a great record. He has played 99 Tests and never been red carded before. It’s a tough experience for him, but it is what it is.
“Our verdict is it was a pretty legitimate clearout, but he went too low and hit the back of the neck, so you have to accept that in the game.
“It was certainly good to hear they saw there was no intention to hurt. It was just really a technique that he didn’t quite get right.
“As a coach, you never see two weeks as good news, but the nice thing for him is he is available (to play against England). He’s telling me he’s already going to pick himself for the English Test, so we will just wait and see.”
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Speaking about the loss of Retallick, centre David Havili added: “He is a massive leader in our team and I am gutted that he can’t be on the field for the next couple of weeks.
“But he is going to do his thing to get back and having him around the group is huge for us. There’s a lot of young players in this squad, with a few older boys going home, so it’s a great thing to have him around and he will be working his butt off to get back in the jersey.”
The All Blacks have already lost captain Sam Cane (fractured cheekbone) and hooker Dane Coles (calf) for the UK tour after they picked up injuries in Tokyo.
Second row Sam Whitelock has taken over from flanker Cane as skipper, with
Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett his vice captains.
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