New Zealand will be without two key players for the second leg of their possible ‘Grand Slam’ tour of the home nations with both captain Scott Barrett and brother Jordie Barrett ruled out of Saturday’s Test against Scotland at Murrayfield.
Lock Barrett suffered a laceration on his leg in the third minute of their 26-13 win over Ireland in Chicago, which forced the All Blacks skipper off at Soldier Field.
Head coach Scott Robertson had previously described the cut as “a decent one, a little sprig above his knee” and confirmed it will not heal in time for Barrett to face the Scots.
It leaves New Zealand’s second-row resources further stretched after losing Tupou Vaa’i and Patrick Tuipulotu to injury before the tour.
Josh Lord, who impressed after replacing Barrett in Chicago, is likely to deputise from the start in Edinburgh, alongside Fabian Holland, who was named player of the match against Ireland.
Blues lock Sam Darry, the only other lock in the All Blacks squad, is likely to join the replacements, but Robertson has also summoned another Blues second-row, Josh Beehre, from the All Blacks XV group preparing to face England A in Bath, to provide training cover this week.
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Meanwhile, centre Jordie Barrett was sent for a scan on Monday after suffering blows to his “high ankle” area “and a bit of a knee”, according to Robertson.
“Jordie got a scan today, so we’ll find out a little bit more this afternoon,” he said at the squad’s new base in Edinburgh. “He got hip-dropped and landed on, and it got a bit awkward there.”
In Barrett’s absence, Leicester Fainga’anuku – who replaced Barrett after 15 minutes in Chicago – could start in midfield alongside Quinn Tupaea, with Billy Proctor and Anton Lienert-Brown the other centre options Robertson could call upon.
The head coach was circumspect when asked if the Barrett brothers were likely to miss more than just the Scotland fixture.
“As good as the cut’s healing, well, he [Scott Barrett] won’t be available for this weekend. Once we get the scan [for Jordie], we’ll see…both of them won’t be available for this weekend,” he added.
New Zealand have never lost to Scotland in 32 previous meetings since 1905, with the Scots managing just two draws in that sequence.
Their most recent meeting, in 2022, saw the All Blacks recover from 23-14 down in the final quarter at Murrayfield to prevail 31-23.