All Blacks cagey on Lomax as Ireland send quarter-final signal

The All Blacks now know their quarter-final opponents – it’s Ireland after the men in green destroyed Scotland this morning – but there is still no definitive news on their injured tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax.

Lomax strained a medial knee ligament early in New Zealand’s 73-0 demolition of Uruguay on Friday and remains a big doubt for the match against Ireland at the Stade de France in Paris on Sunday morning NZT.

But there was no official word early this morning on whether he was in or out.

“We’re just giving him a bit of time and we’ll get together in the morning and reassess with medics and coaches and see how it is,” said scrum coach Greg Feek. “We’ve got an extra few days up our sleeve.

“I think it’s just annoying to get a little niggle or anything. He seemed in reasonable spirits, but we’ll wait and see tomorrow.”

There is better news about loosehead prop Ethan de Groot, who returns from a two-match suspension for a red card on a high tackle in the Namibia pool match victory.

“The last couple of weeks he’s trained really well, and he’s had the opportunity to do some extras,” Feek said.

“He’s looking in a lot better nick than he was two and a-half weeks ago, so hopefully he can put his hand up for selection.

“We’re really impressed how he’s taken on board a lot of the work-ons World Rugby gave him round the tackle stuff, and also just around the way the game is going.

“He’s been getting stuck in to the boys that have been playing. He’s feeling the best he’s felt in a while.”

Should Lomax be ruled out, Nepo Laulala will likely start at tighthead against Ireland, with either de Groot or Ofa Tu’ungafasi starting at loosehead.

The latter can play either side of the scrum, which also applies to Tamaiti Williams.

The All Blacks’ other tighthead, Fletcher Newell, 23, also left the field with a knee injury on Friday but his issue was only minor, head coach Ian Foster said afterwards.

Contingencies already appear to be in place should Lomax be ruled out, with Canterbury prop Joe Moody a late scratching from his team’s NPC quarter-final win over Auckland in Christchurch on Friday night.

Foster has yet to officially call on Moody but his sidelining was likely an attempt to keep him injury free in the event he is called up.

The All Blacks will travel from their Lyon base to Paris by train on Monday.