All Blacks’ Sitiveni Sivivatu to miss next clash of Tri-Nations due to injury - Rugby News
All Blacks’ Sitiveni Sivivatu is feared to miss the next clash of the ongoing Tri-Nations Cup 2011 against South Africa due to an injury to his eye socket. Sitiveni Sivivatu sustained the injury during their second match of the tournament against Australia
on August 6, in Auckland. The injury-struck winger contributed a well executed try in his team’s 30-14 victory over the Wallabies. The All Blacks coach, Graham Henry, confirmed on August 7 that the winger sustained an eye injury on Saturday and is likely to
miss New Zealand’s next clash against South Africa to be played on August 20.
Fiji born Sitiveni Sivivatu had a superb day in the field for the All Blacks before he sustained the unfortunate injury in Auckland. He helped his side with a rock solid defence and a valuable try during the later part of the game.
The 29-year-old Sivivatu, who also plays at full-backs position, has been around his national side since 2005 and has earned 45 international caps for the All Blacks. In his 45 appearances, Sivivatu has earned 145 points for his team including 29 tries.
Earlier, the winger has also played for Pacific Islanders in 2004 for three games and produced an extraordinary performance. He scored 20 points in just four games along with four tries.
Talking to reporters on Sunday, August 7, the All Blacks coach said that although the injury was not of a severe nature, Sivivatu is still might miss the Springboks clash on August 20. He added that, “He's got a fractured eye socket which is not good. He
probably will miss South Africa but probably will be right for Brisbane. It's unbelievable - I didn't think he ran fast enough to get one of those - and medical staff don't want to risk it. It's not serious, but if he played too quickly on it it could go,
so we're not taking a risk."
Henry further said that Woodcock could replace him for that particular match. “He's played 80 tests, so he knows what he's doing. He won't play the whole game, but we just need to get him back in the fold.”
Sitiveni Sivivatu will probably play his last match before RWC 2011 against Australia on August 27.
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