Manu Vatuvei to miss New Zealand's tour to England
Wednesday 19 August 2015 09:52, UK
New Zealand have suffered another major injury blow ahead of their end-of-season tour to England with the loss of winger Manu Vatuvei.
The 29-year-old New Zealand Warrior will undergo surgery later this week to repair the damage he sustained to his shoulder against Canberra on June 27 and will be sidelined for five months.
Vatuvei was initially expected to be out for just over a month and he returned against Cronulla on August 1 but hurt the same shoulder playing against St George Illawarra a week later.
Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney is already without Penrith winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who is out for an indefinite time with a collapsed lung, and the experienced Jason Nightingale, who has an ankle injury.
It means Cronulla's Sosaia Feki and Manly Sea Eagles' Peta Hiku could be the starting wingers in the three-match Test series against England and it may open the door for Melbourne winger Matt Duffie, whose only previous appearance in the black jersey was in 2011.
Vatuvei is the latest player to be ruled out of contention for the tour, which begins with a warm-up match against Leeds on October 23 before the first Test in Hull on November 1.
Already gone are former Wigan hooker or half-back Thomas Leuluai and stand-off Shaun Johnson with respective knee and ankle injuries, while the Panthers have said that centre Dean Whare will not play again for them this year because of a broken thumb.
Kearney will name his squad of 23 or 24 players soon after the NRL Grand Final on October 4.
Meanwhile, Vatuvei's Warriors team-mate Sam Tomkins is preparing to make his last home appearance for the club against North Queensland on Saturday.
The England full-back is returning to Wigan at the end of the season, having decided to cut short his time in the NRL by a year, and the Warriors are not expected to reach the play-offs.
