Leicester Fainga'anuku will miss at least 10 to 12 weeks after sustaining a fibula fracture and high ankle sprain during the Crusaders' 49-12 Super Rugby Pacific semi-final loss to the Chiefs on June 12, ruling him out of the All Blacks' Nations Championship campaign and placing his availability for the opening Tests of the series against the Springboks in serious doubt.
The 26-year-old was withdrawn before half-time in Christchurch, with Dominic Gardiner replacing him. The Crusaders confirmed surgery is not required, but the recovery window effectively ends any chance of him featuring against France, Italy and Ireland in the Nations Championship, and leaves Dave Rennie without one of his more intriguing selection options for the start of the South Africa Tests.
Fainga'anuku had been in the middle of an unusual positional experiment, transitioning from his natural wing or centre role into the back row — a shift that began during his time at Toulon and was accelerated by the Crusaders this season. He made his openside flanker debut against the Waratahs in late April and then held that position for five consecutive matches, including both play-off games against the Blues and the Chiefs.
The injury shelves what had been shaping as a genuine tactical asset for Rennie. Former All Black Stephen Donald had argued in May that Fainga'anuku's hybrid capability gave New Zealand a bench-construction option that bypassed the debate around the 6-2 forward-back split entirely. "You can have your 5-3 split knowing full well that if you want to do something a little bit different with who you're covering on the bench with the forwards, you've got Leicester there who can cover a couple of those positions," Donald said. "Leicester gives you things no one outside Leicester can do, as far as forwards go."
Rennie will name his Nations Championship squad after the Super Rugby Pacific final between the Hurricanes and the Chiefs.