Rugby Union - Autumn International - New Zealand Training - The Lensbury hotel, London, Britain - November 1, 2024 New Zealand's Samipeni Finau during training Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs
(Reuters) - New Zealand flanker Samipeni Finau failed a concussion test after a head-knock in the tight loss to France and has been ruled out of the Italy clash in Turin on Saturday, All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said.
Finau came off early in the 30-29 thriller last Saturday, replaced by Peter Lakai who scored a try in his second test.
Centre Jordie Barrett also came off against the French with a knee injury and is waiting on a scan to be cleared to play against Italy.
Robertson confirmed flanker Sam Cane would be available after recovering from his own head-knock late in the win against Ireland which left the former captain with a deep gash on his forehead that required stitches.
"It will be the best team for Italy," Robertson said in comments published by New Zealand media on Monday.
"This year's been a great year for us to play 12 debutants, give them game time, get them in, get good combinations and get a bit of cohesion going.
"And this week will be no different."
France snapped New Zealand's five-match winning streak following back-to-back wins against Australia in the Rugby Championship and victories over Japan, England and Ireland in a successful northern hemisphere tour.
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett was left wondering whether he made the right call when his team earned a penalty when trailing France 30-26 with six minutes left.
Barrett opted for Damian McKenzie to kick for goal rather than punt for the touch-line to set up a line-out drive to go for a try.
McKenzie kicked truly for the three points but New Zealand were unable to score again.
Robertson said a message was relayed from the coaches' box to Barrett on-field but did not disclose what it was.
"He got the information," said the coach, who ultimately backed his captain.
"You’ve got to support him. That’s the first thing. He’s your captain, you trust him. He went on instinct at the time. Now he’s had a bit of time to reflect.
"When you look at the opportunities in test footy, they’re quite limited and he felt like he might have got another one to get another three or a shot to win it and we didn’t get that."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
