New Zealand captain Ardie Savea has been ruled out of the fourth Test against South Africa after sustaining a shoulder injury during a 29-24 defeat at Soccer City. The 32-year-old was forced from the field nine minutes before half-time in the bruising encounter, leaving the All Blacks trailing 2-1 in the four-Test series.
Savea Injury Blows All Blacks Series Hopes
Ardie Savea scored two tries before exiting the match due to his shoulder injury, a departure that allowed South Africa to seize greater control of the fixture. All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie confirmed in his post-match press conference that Savea will not travel with the team to the United States for the upcoming fourth Test in Baltimore.
“He won’t travel now (to the United States). We’ll work out what it will look like in the next few hours,” Rennie told reporters.
Personnel Reshuffle and Tupaea Doubt
The All Blacks face additional roster concerns heading into the final fixture of the tour. Centre Quinn Tupaea suffered a knee injury during the match at Soccer City and is also a doubt for the clash in Baltimore. Coach Dave Rennie noted that the severity of Tupaea’s injury remains unclear regarding his availability for the trip to America.
Both teams were scheduled to depart for the United States early Sunday on a shared charter flight. The fourth Test takes place next Sunday in Baltimore, where the All Blacks must secure a victory to level the series.
Series Context and Coach Assessment
The four-Test series marks the first full tour of South Africa by the All Blacks since 1996, marketed under the ‘Greatest Rivalry’ banner with World Rugby’s number one ranking at stake. New Zealand held the series lead after winning the opening match a fortnight ago before dropping successive games.
“They are world champions for a reason. Very good up front and they play a bit of footy tonight,” Rennie said. “We probably made a few errors that allowed them supply and I thought they were a lot stronger than they had been in the first two tests. But it’s not like there is a gap between the two teams, it’s very close.”
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