News in Brief
Boric to miss Blues' South African tour
Scrum.com
April 19, 2010
Blues lock Anthony Boric claims a lineout, Reds v Blues, Super 14, Ballymore, February 27, 2010
The Blues will make a desperate run at the finals without lock Anthony Boric © Getty Images
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Tournaments/Tours: Super 14

  • The Blues will have to rescue their Super 14 season in South Africa without All Blacks lock Anthony Boric, who will stay in New Zealand to recover from an ankle injury.

    Boric was absent from the Blues' 38-17 win over the Force on Saturday which kept their slim playoff hopes alive, and now the influential forward will miss his side's three-match international sojourn. He was replaced in the 26-man travelling squad by Andrew van der Heijden.

    The seventh-placed Blues play the Sharks in Durban on Saturday, followed by the Cheetahs and Lions, before returning home to host the Chiefs in the final round.

  • The Reds have signed experienced former Wallaby forward Radike Samo as an injury replacement for captain and lock James Horwill.

    Fijian-born Samo, 33, who has been playing in Japan after a stint in France, made his Test debut in 2004 against Scotland while playing for the Brumbies. Samo returned to Australia in February and has been playing club rugby in Sydney until this week.

    "We always knew we'd be walking a bit of a tightrope in the lock position until we found cover for James for the rest of the year and we'd been lucky so far not to get caught short," said Reds coach Ewan McKenzie. "But with Van (Humphries) injured, Radike's arrival has come at the right time."

    Meanwhile, Reds lock Humphries will miss this Friday's match against the Stormers with muscle and ligament damage to his ankle. McKenzie said his fitness will be reassessed next week.

  • The Hurricanes could be without captain Andrew Hore for their must-win match against the Highlanders on Saturday. The hooker is racing against time to recover from a nasty gash to his knee suffered during his side's 23-13 win over the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday. Medical staff delayed stitching the wound to ensure there was no infection.

    "It is a big cut and he's a 50-50 for the Highlanders. He just got a boot on the side of his knee. It's not his knee cap or anything like that," coach Colin Cooper told the Dominion Post.

  • Chiefs fullback Tim Nanai-Williams has re-signed with Counties-Manukau for the 2010 provincial rugby season. The signing was another coup for the south Aucklanders who lured former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga as their player-coach for the coming season.

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