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New Zealand will host Fiji in the second test tomorrow. Picture: APP
All Blacks midfield maestro Anton Lienert-Brown will mark a “special” 50th test on his home ground after returning from an elbow injury he revealed had been troubling him for the past year.
The 26-year-old will be back in black in New Zealand’s second test against Fiji in Hamilton on Saturday night, after missing the opening two fixtures of the international season as he recovered from surgery.
Lienert-Brown bit the bullet to go under the knife last month following the Chiefs’ Super Rugby season, after his left elbow started to become just a little too problematic for his liking.
“It’s probably been something going on for about a year, but I managed to play through it. And then at the back end of trans-Tasman Super Rugby it sort of just got a bit too niggly. “I could play but it was sort of hindering my training. And obviously you want to train as well as you can so you can play well, too. “So it was one of those things that I needed to get done at some stage, and that was the time to get it done.” Now fully recovered – “Yeah, I can pass 50 metres further now,” he quipped – and able to finally straighten his arm fully once more, Lienert-Brown slots back in at centre, to form the third different starting midfield for the All Blacks in as many tests, looking forward to partnering up with David Havili.
McMillan was “100 per cent stoked’ at the depth the Chiefs – Super Rugby Aotearoa runners-up – had developed in 2021 after losing key players such as All Blacks captain Sam Cane and pro Atu Moli to injuries, and with test lock Brodie Retallick on Japan on sabbatical. “It’s disappointing that we aren t able to contest another final, but I’m absolutely rapt with the way, in both Super Rugby Aotearoa and the Trans Tasman competition with the really great depth we’ve developed.” McMillan said some players had got “significant minutes we never anticipated them getting’’ and said some, including loose forwards Zane Kapeli and Viliame Taulani (the only Chiefs try-scorer in Sydney not named Wainui) had made the most of their opportunities.
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Scrum half Milinda brought honour and fame to his school and country Daily News (via HT Media Ltd.)
Nalanda College, Colombo is one of the pioneer Buddhist schools in the country which has played a pivotal role in producing some top academics who have excelled in various fields and several sportsmen who have played a key role in bringing honour and fame to their Alma Mater by playing for clubs and country with distinction. Milinda Jayasinghe was one of the few ruggerites produced by them who handled the oval shaped ball in an illustrious career to become the cynosure of all eyes with his extraordinary skills in rugby.