New Zealand flanker Sam Cane fractured his neck in Saturday's match against the Springboks. The bruising forward was injured as he collided with Francois Louw late in the first half of their come-from behind win at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria Saturday night.
Thankfully, the injury is not thought to be career-threatening, but he will not be playing any more rugby for the remainder of the year. In fact, he has already undergone surgery and will be resting with his doctor in Pretoria for the rest of the week.
"We have every confidence he will do well with the operation and like any fracture it will probably take about three months for the bone to get strong and we'll take it step by step," Tony Page said.
"The operation is really just to keep everything in the right place so the bone can heal on it own accord. Many sportsmen have had this injury as have people in other walks of life and they usually make a good recovery."
While the All Blacks have lost their first choice seven, there remain some well-experienced options. Any conversation about a replacement will surely begin with the man who replaced Cane to great effect Saturday night - Ardie Savea. He will likely be considered the front-runner after great form in the last two outings.
Other names being talked about are Blake Hunt, Blake Gibson, and Gareth Evans.
Savea now has 30 caps and showed in Argentina that he can offer cover for more than one position. Saturday's stellar performance will only further enhance his resume, especially after filling in quite comfortably the week before at number 8.
Here's wishing Sam Cane all the best and a speedy recovery.
Credit: All Blacks
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