Jason Eaton's Super 14 season is over and the Hurricanes midfield in
tatters in the wake of what has proven a costly 33-18 win over the
Lions at Westpac Stadium.

....

Conrad Smith (thumb) and Tamati Ellison (shoulder) were also casualties
of the Lions match and along with Jason Kawau (sinus) will not be on
the plane to South Africa today.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-14/3387085/Eaton-out-midfield-in-tatters-after-win

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Well that sux! Another NZ lock out. Eaton could be out for up to 6 months so could miss a majority of the Tri-Nations.

The AB's should be sweet, i think we will have the following 4 involved in the Tri Nations this year, Thorn, Donelly, Jack & Ross/Boric. I think we will go with about 4 locks so this should see the return of Jack to the AB's given he doesnt prolong his injury.

Definitely Boric over Ross. Ross is shit.

Not sold on Jack either, I reckon he'd was done when he left the ABs the first time.

I reckon Bryn Evans will have a good chance of getting a spot, even though I disagree with him being there.

Josh Bekhuis is the man, chuck him in there

Well thats a blow but never really like the Eaton man .
i hope Bekhuis gets a go hes a man with a lot of potential. Jack on the bench no way he should start. He still needs to prove himself he has still got it though,.

Yea Ross spends way too much time swanning around on the fringes instead of getting his hands dirty. I like Donnelly & Thorns old school mongrel.

And although Jack is yet to prove whether he can still foot it, I'm glad we at least have him back as an option. At the rate our locks are falling over his experience could prove vital this year.

Definitely sucks with Eaton, he seemed to FINALLY be hitting his straps again...reckon he might as well pack his bags and try to get an overseas contract now as his ABs days are surely numbered...

Of more concern is the loss of Smith AND Ellison. People are harping on about Leiua but I still think he's shit and has a LONG way to go.

True - but you know the luck the likes of Smith have with injuries...

eatons no loss. he was more of a backup backup ABs lock. yeah ross doesnt bury his head in the rucks enough leaving the tight5 outnumbered round the park
Locks should be fine. donelly's proven to be calm under fire and suited the simplified lineOuts on the europe tour, tho the real test is vs the saffa's. With bradThorne and chrisJack around as well we should be fine. Berkuist is playing well.
i reckon Jack will bolt into the ABs when he eventually makes the park. no substitute for experience and apparently he's been playing well in europe and southAfrica.
also have to say that i'm real impressed with boric. for a tall gangly whiteBoy he's got some mean as defence. he put a big hit in the weekend and I've never seen boric miss a tackle or be caught out positionally on defence. ok's he's slow and not much on offence but defence is the much higher priority and he's good at pulling down his own ball in the lineouts. he just needs to learn to steal more lineout ball but then thats the same with all the NZ locks

leiua, couple of friends have played with leiua thru out school boy, @NorthsRC and rep rugby and they reckon he's the real deal, i'm still to be convinced

be good if tamati and ellison get a rest this weekn. as Hendo said, cheetahs is an ideal game to sit out and who knows when they'll get another to have a rest.

tamati and ellison eh?

I still don't like Boric, but then to be fair I haven't watched him play in ages so don't really know how he's been doing.

Cheetahs definitely the time to have a weakened midfield, their danger is with their loosies and wingers and we're still OK on that front.

It'll be an epic battle when Heinrich Brussow takes on Karl Lowe. Two of the best ruck winners in the game Hopefully Lowe gets another start.

karlLowe not only deserves to start but he's NZ only bonifide back up for mccaw

scottWaldroms doesnt have the instinct to be a natural 7