All Blacks scrum-half Piri Weepu says he injured himself in New Zealand's warm-up to the Rugby World Cup final.
Scrum-half was not fit for World Cup final after groin strain
All Blacks scrum-half Piri Weepu admitted to injuring himself in New Zealand's warm-up to the Rugby World Cup final.
The 28-year-old was reported to have tweaked a groin muscle prior to kick-off as the teams went through their final exercises, threatening his place in the starting line-up.
Weepu played through the pain, but after missing two penalties and a conversion - squandering eight crucial points for his team - he was eventually subbed in the 50th minute, after it was obvious that he wasn't 100 per cent fit.
"I wasn't ready to come off," said Weepu.
"I had a tweak of my groin before the game started and I guess the coaches were only looking out for what was best for the team."
Ultimately, it was down to fourth-choice pivot Stephen Donald to kick the All Blacks to their first Rugby World Cup final win since 1987.
Ironically, world-leading stand-off Dan Carter and his back-up Colin Slade had earlier limped out of the tournament after suffering groin injuries, while third choice Aaron Cruden had to go off in the 34th minute of the final with a knee injury.
