Johannesburg - All Blacks captain Sam Cane is reportedly being line-up as the scapegoat for New Zealand Rugby recent woes, if speculation out of the Land of the White Long Cloud is to be believed.
After their Test series loss to Ireland this past month, Cane will allegedly be dropped as captain of the New Zealand side that will travel to South Africa to face the Springboks in back-to-back Rugby Championship clashes in Nelspruit and Johannesburg, respectively.
Cane is set to be replaced, according to an insider source speaking to the Otago Daily Times, by veteran lock Sam Whitelock when the squad is announced, presumably on Friday. Cane has 80 Test caps to his name and has captained the All Blacks on 13 occasions, but Whitelock is considered to have both the experience and respect required, according to the report, to lift Ian Foster’s team out of their recent slump.
New Zealand Rugby seems to be in something of a crisis mode currently. The union has not posted any new information on its social media accounts since the series loss when daily updates were the norm, while scheduled media engagements have been cancelled.
Moreover, the squad for the mini-tour to SA was set to be announced on Wednesday but that commitment did not materialise.
Head coach Foster has lost eight of the 24 matches that he has been in charge of, but it is the recent run of four losses in five matches that seems to have brought a degree of panic within the ranks of the All Blacks. Firing Foster at the moment, with just over a year to the Rugby World Cup in France, seems to be out of question, with the preferred strategy rather a shake-up in the personnel.
Accordingly, former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is set to fly out to SA after being promoted to a director of rugby-type position, while Crusaders eightman Cullen Grace and Highlanders prop Ethan de Groot are expected to be added to the touring squad.
The two Championship matches between the Bok and All Blacks are scheduled for Saturday, August 6 at Mbombela Stadium and Emirates Airline Park a week later.
IOL Sport