Colin Slade provided an opportunity to prove his fitness before Rugby World Cup 2011- Rugby News
All Blacks have provided Colin Slade with an opportunity to prove his fitness before the Rugby World Cup 2011. Colin Slade has been included in the All Blacks 30-member squad for the upcoming Tri-Nations Cup 2011, despite being hit by devastating injuries
during the Super Rugby championship.
Colin Slade could only participate in three games for Highlanders in the recently concluded Super Rugby season 2011. The assistant coach of the All Blacks, Wayne Smith, told the media on July 11 that Slade will be given the responsibility if backing up five-eight
Dan Carter in the Tri-Nations Cup.
Talking to reporters today on July 11, the assistant coach of the All Blacks, Wayne Smith said that Slade has been considered for the All Blacks despite the big question mark about his fitness. He added that, “He adds a different dimension but we pondered
that selection for a while because he has not played as much as we wanted. With Colin we were pretty keen on him being in the Highlanders' leadership group, and involved in analysis and strategy.”
Colin Slade has represented the All Blacks in just match against the Australian side during the last stall of Tri-Nations. He actually made his debut for the All Blacks as a replacement.
Earlier, Slade made his Super Rugby debut in 2010, playing for the Crusaders and joined the Blues for this year’s championship. However, an unfortunate injury ruled him out for the rest of the season after playing just three games of the championship.
Wayne Smith also said that Slade has got a resilient nature and he will be able to overcome the recent injuries. He added that, "We needed him to be more involved with leadership which he's done. He played pretty well in the cameos he had. But we haven't
picked him because of on-field performance, we've picked him because of the work in the areas we wanted him to do and on the belief he's got the all-round game we're after.”
The All Blacks are expected to announce their final squad for Tri-Nation this week.
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