All Black Injury Update

All Blacks hooker, George Bell, will return home from South Africa after suffering a calf strain during training in Cape Town on Sunday.  Bell's return to play is expected to be four to six weeks, so he will return to New Zealand to rehabilitate.

Taranaki and Blues hooker Bradley Slater has been called into the squad and is due to arrive on Wednesday.

"We are all gutted for George, to be ruled out of the tour so early," All Blacks Head Coach Dave Rennie said. “He’s had a frustrating past few months with injury so it’s a real blow for him to have injured his calf again. We look forward to seeing him return via the NPC and put himself in a position to push for All Blacks selection later in the year."