“We’re all a bit shocked by it because he was weight-bearing on it and he looked pretty good”.
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Coach Steve Hansen said that with the World Cup just two months away he had to “be brave” with selections for the Rugby Championship Test in Johannesburg.
“They were pretty soft tries and if we were under any illusions about what South Africa are going to do… we know that they will scrum for some penalties, they will kick for lineouts and they will drive”, he said.
“He will blossom into a very good All Black”.
The second Test of the All Blacks limited five-Test programme before the squad is slashed from 41 to 31 for the World Cup was played in fine but bitterly cold conditions with the temperature hovering around freezing point.
WELLINGTON, July 18 All Blacks winger Waisake Naholo has been ruled out of the World Cup after breaking his leg during his test debut against Argentina in the Rugby Championship on Friday. Piutau scored in the 45th and No 8 Read in the 49th as the Argentina defence wilted in the face of the pace and scope of the All Blacks’ attack.
Carter said that after the full-time whistle against Argentina, the All Blacks immediately began talking about the need for “a huge step up” in skill level for the Springboks Test.
Argentina briefly rallied with a brace of identical tries from skipper Agustin Creevy to reduce the gap to 32-18, but New Zealand were never seriously threatened and they added a fifth score late on through debutant Codie Taylor.
It was a special night for two of the most celebrated All Blacks, McCaw and Carter, making their farewell appearance before their provincial home crowd Christchurch.
It might also have been Carter’s last game in Christchurch and the France-bound fly-half marked the occasion with a 14 -point haul, although he was unable to convert McCaw’s try.
Naholo stormed into the New Zealand squad after dazzling for the Highlanders as they won the Super Rugby title for the first time, scoring 13 tries in the campaign.
Elsewhere, Hansen has shuffled his squad for next week’s trip to South Africa in The Rugby Championship, resting both Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams ahead of the back-to-back meetings with Australia.
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In just over nine weeks they meet the All Blacks again in their opening World Cup encounter.
