NEW ZEALAND LOCK Patrick Tuipulotu and full-back Stephen Perofeta will miss the tour of South Africa with injury, the All Blacks said Wednesday.
The pair are out of the Tests against the Springboks in Johannesburg on 31 August and Cape Town on 7 September.
They will remain in New Zealand for treatment, the All Blacks said in a statement. Both players have calf injuries.
Tuipulotu and Perofeta had already sat out last Saturday’s 42-10 thrashing of Argentina in Auckland and the previous weekend’s shock defeat to the Pumas in Wellington.
Waikato Chiefs lock Josh Lord and Auckland Blues back Harry Plummer will stay with the squad as cover for the injured pair.
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett has recovered from the finger injury which ruled him out of both games against Argentina.
Prop Ethan de Groot (neck) and loose forward Luke Jacobson (hamstring) have also got over knocks to make the tour.
All Blacks squad:
Hookers: Asafo Aumua, Codie Taylor, George Bell
Props: Ethan De Groot, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Tamaiti Williams
Locks: Scott Barrett (Captain) Sam Darry, Josh Lord, Tupou Vaa’i
Loose forwards: Ethan Blackadder, Sam Cane, Samipeni Finau, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali’i, Ardie Savea, Wallace Sititi
Scrum-halves: Noah Hotham, TJ Perenara, Cortez Ratima
Fly-halves: Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie
Centres: Jordie Barrett, David Havili, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Billy Proctor
Wingers: Caleb Clarke, Will Jordan, Sevu Reece, Mark Tele’a
Full-backs: Ruben Love, Harry Plummer
This is intriguing , Can see the temptation of a long kicking game at altitude for the All blacks to pin the boks back and clever short kicking to advance the gain line . Where we usually rely on the power game for ascendancy, the tony brown width game now also comes into play with lightning quick backline play . So theoretically speaking, this will probably be a fast tempo back and forward tussle. I hope Sasha starts at 10 to get that backline moving and fassi at fullback , or least off the bench.bok defense have let in one try over the last 2 tests so will need to continue on song.
@Stuart: Ah Stuart can allways being seen on a SA post lol