Injury set to rule All Blacks star out of Super Rugby Pacific final

Samisoni-Taukeiaho-on-the-charge-for-the-Chiefs

The Chiefs’ might have to take on the Blues in next weekend’s Super Rugby Pacific final without star forward Samisoni Taukei’aho after he was injured in their semifinal win over the Hurricanes.

The All Blacks hooker sustained a lower leg injury which put a damper on the Chiefs’ 30-19 triumph over their hosts in Wellington on Saturday.

Taukei’aho was injured midway through the opening half when he made a tackle while the Hurricanes were desperately trying to get back into the game after the Chiefs raced into a 17-0 lead.

Continued playing despite injury

Despite his injury, the 26-year-old continued playing but was limping badly at the time and Hurricanes eventually opened their account in the 20th minute when Peter Lakai beat Taukei’aho easily before crossing for a try.

“It’s pretty bad. We might be looking for another hooker. It’s either a calf or an Achilles. I don’t think it’s real [serious] but something went there,” Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan told Stuff.

“He was in position to make the tackle and just walked off the field so that is probably an indication that he wasn’t great.”

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To make matters worse for the Chiefs, Taukei’aho’s replacement Bradley Slater, was also forced off the field due to injury in the game’s latter stages which meant the visitors finished the encounter without a specialist hooker.

“Brad Slater came on, got a knee injury and needed an HIA,” added McMillan. “He was in the wars but he managed to soldier on until he got made to go off and we finished with a halfback or a second-five throwing the ball in so there was a fair bit of collateral damage out of this game.”

Might need an extra hooker

The Chiefs have Tyrone Thompson as the third hooker in their Super Rugby Pacific squad but if Taukei’aho and Slater are both ruled out of Saturday’s final at Eden Park then McMillan will be forced to bring in a player from the club rugby scene in Hamilton.

“We’ve had the benefit of having an extra guy in as part of the wider training squad but we haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks,” added McMillan.

“They’re likely to come from club rugby somewhere back into the fold and play a big game.

“You work all season to try and plan for moments like this when someone has to step up. It might be on the biggest stage but you just pick them.”