The China Mail - Segner out of South Africa tour as New Zealand injuries pile up

The first player born in Germany to represent the All Blacks, Segner excelled as a starter against the Stormers and Bulls and was a replacement for the first Test last Saturday.

However, he had to withdraw on the morning of the match, which New Zealand won 33-16, due to a swollen ankle.

Rennie told reporters that the 25-year-old has had keyhole surgery and would play no further part on the tour.

Four injured All Blacks have already returned home and two more are recovering from concussion.

Lock Patrick Tuipulotu, who skippered the All Blacks to victory over the Lions after trailing by 18 points in the second half, was substituted before the hour mark.

Overlooked for the first Test, he could earn a recall for the second in Cape Town on Saturday in place of the concussed Josh Lord.

Rennie summarised the win over the Lions before a 15,956 crowd at Ellis Park as a "mixed performance".

"At times we tried to play too much. The Lions kicked a lot more than us and benefited from that. We controlled some areas well, but were just not clinical enough.

"We created a lot of opportunities but just did not do the obvious enough times.

"At 35-17 down we were feeling the heat, but we had quite a few Test caps on the park and quite a few young men. We dug deep.

"The Lions were off to flying starts in both halves and I thought we showed a lot of character to fight back."

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said: "I believed we could maybe pull off a miracle.

"I am immensely proud of the team. Our focus was to test ourselves against their tempo, how can we play our game and enforce it on them?

"Tonight you could see the passion, the hard work, what it meant for the players. Our captain (Francke Horn) said he had goosebumps while playing.

"That work rate and effort is part of our DNA. We lost it in the last 12 minutes."

Y.Parker--ThChM