Read and Thomson to miss All Blacks' opening game against Tonga

RUGBY: NEW ZEALAND number eight Kieran Read will miss the opening weeks of the Rugby World Cup with an ankle sprain.

All Blacks loose forward Adam Thomson is also set to miss the opening match against Tonga with an injured elbow.

The pair had scans after picking up the injuries in Saturday’s Tri-Nations defeat by Australia.

“We’re positive on Kieran, the doctor thinks he’ll be able to play in the World Cup,” said coach Graham Henry.

“I don’t think Adam’s injured his arm before but it doesn’t look good.”

All Blacks doctor Deb Robinson said: “Kieran has torn the ligament between the tibia and fibula at the front of his left ankle. While it’s still early days in his recovery, with aggressive rehabilitation we are aiming to have him available to play near the end of the round robin.

“Adam’s MRI scan shows some swelling around the inside of his elbow, which should settle quickly.”

Read has 32 international caps and was New Zealand’s player of the year in 2010, while Thomson has 17 caps and can play on both sides of the backrow.

Henry conceded his decision to rest players in the lead-up to the Tri-Nations decider in Brisbane had backfired when the All Blacks failed to find anything like top form in the 25-20 Tri-Nations loss to the Wallabies.

Henry also rested a raft of front-line players for the South Africa leg of the tournament but the resulting back-to-back losses have taken the wind out of the All Blacks’ sails going into the World Cup on home soil, which starts on September 9th.

“There was some consolation in the way we came back and showed some grit in the second half (on Saturday) but (it was) a disappointing game for us,” said Henry.

“I just think we’ve had an unusual preparation for this Test. Some guys stayed in New Zealand and some guys went to South Africa.

“We thought that was the best step going forward into the Rugby World Cup and it didn’t gel for some reason or other. It just didn’t gel. We’ll just have to wait and see how this turns out. If there was some (complacency) there, it won’t be there now.”

The All Blacks, who are in Pool A with Tonga, France, Canada and Japan, open the World Cup against the Pacific islanders at Eden Park on September 9th.