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Sam Whitelock thought he would be in trouble and so his hunch has proved to be on the mark.
After missing the Crusaders’ two home knockout fixtures because of Achilles soreness, the French-bound New Zealand great seemingly went against medical advice not to play in the Crusaders’ Super Rugby final success.
Whitelock bowed out a seven-time Super Rugby champion, capping a remarkable, fairytale finish with the Crusaders by playing a crucial role in their nail-biting triumph.
“The body is definitely sore, I think I’ll be in a bit of trouble with All Blacks management, but it’s so good to sign off for a number of guys who have had massive careers with the Crusaders,” Whitelock said following the match.
Samuel Whitelock celebrates after winning the Super Rugby Pacific Final against the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato, on June 24, 2023, in Hamilton. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
While his coach Scott Robertson hailed the 34-year-old’s effort, who pulled on the Crusaders jersey for the 181st and last time.
“We think he’s an immortal in the game,” Robertson said.
“He’s a god-like figure with what he’s done. The amount of games he’s played, when he was captain, year after year, he rises up every day.
“In his mind he was always going to play, it was his Achilles that was going to say ‘no’. The doc said ‘no’ but it’s the way he is with his mindset.”
Scott Robertson described Sam Whitelock as “god-like” to get through the Super Rugby final and said the veteran lock’s mental strength helped him. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
One person who clearly wasn’t impressed he went against the medical advice was his current All Blacks coach Ian Foster.
The under-pressure coach, who will be replaced by Robertson following the World Cup and has had the bumpiest four-year tenure of any All Blacks coach and had to endure some more ‘Razor’ breakdancing in Waikato, didn’t leave much to the imagination about his thoughts on the matter after watching Whitelock on the sidelines at the nation’s first training session on Wednesday morning at Mt Smart Stadium.
“Obviously he played during that recovery period so we’ve just got to wait and see how he transitions in the next week or two,” Foster said.
Pressed whether he would have preferred to see Whitelock sit out the Crusaders’ Super Rugby final, Foster didn’t hide his feelings: “Just look at him now.
“He made a decision based on the medical advice he got and in a sense rolled the dice and got through it, but he’s not right to train today so we’ve just got to deal with what we’ve got now.”
Head coach Ian Foster didn’t hide his feelings about Sam Whitelock’s decision to put his World Cup campaign at risk by playing in the Super Rugby final when talking to reporters at Mt Smart Stadium on June 28, 2023 in Auckland. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Whitelock is now long odds to play the All Blacks’ opening Rugby Championship clash against Argentina.
Whether he’s fit to play in their home clash against the Springboks a week later remains to be seen.
Gun winger Leicester Fainga’anuku is also in doubt for the Test with a tight calf muscle, while Mark Telea is also making his way back from a knee strain.
Foster, however, did confirm he would take at least 36 players to Mendoza for their clash against Michael Cheika’s Pumas, with Chiefs outside back Shaun Steveson and Hurricanes prop Tevita Mafileo set to travel with the squad. Anton Lienert-Brown isn’t expected to be replaced after his two-week ban for his high shot on Dallas McLeod.
With just five Tests ahead of their World Cup opener against France on the opening night of the tournament on September 8, Foster said he was keen to get his combinations working from the outset.
“There’s probably 40% of the team feeling fresh and 60% have come in… but we’re used to that. It’s a tough time the transition from one campaign to the other,” he said.
“You’ve got to get everyone on the same page and you’ve got to get used to different language. You have to deal with the emotions of finals.
“What we’ve learned is you can’t go too fast with it. You can’t expect people to adapt and adjust straight away and ignore the emotional toll of what people have been through. It’s a slow-to-fast process this week.
“We’re making sure we don’t push them too fast physically… but we’re demanding on the mental side of it because we have to make sure we’re ready.”
He added: “We’re keen to build combinations but we’ve got tread that line this week to see where the energy levels are.”
Discipline will once again be a theme spoken about constantly over the coming months.
Sam Cane looks on from the sin bin as the Crusaders came from behind to beat the Chiefs in the Super Rugby final at FMG Stadium Waikato on June 24, 2023. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The 15 penalties was well above their competition average (9) and Chiefs captain Sam Cane, who has been backed in by Foster as All Blacks skipper too, was given a brutal lesson as he watched his side’s late lead slip through their fingers after being sent to the sin bin for a breakdown infringement.
Foster said it was a lesson his entire side, including their leaders, needed to heed.
“You look at Sam’s decision… people were actually very aggressive in that [breakdown] space for the whole game and he probably tried once too often,” he said
“Sometimes there is a bit of a lesson there – your senior players can sometimes want something so badly that they over-extend and force a play when they don’t need to.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.