Rugby league: Outlook bleak for Blair after injury

Adam Blair picked up a calf injury during New Zealand's solid 34-16 win over Leeds at Headingly.

The weeks ahead look bleak for Northland's Adam Blair, after the Kiwis' co-captain picked up a calf injury during New Zealand's solid 34-16 win over Leeds at Headingly.

A groin injury to Jordan Kahu also dampened the Kiwis' celebrations, however, Blair's injury is thought to be the more serious of the two and he is likely to miss at least one, possibly two, of the upcoming tests against England.

It's tough on the 29-year-old, who is coming off a career-best season with the Broncos and was revelling in the chance to captain his country, and will leave Alex Glenn and Lewis Brown jostling for the final interchange spot.

It will also heap more responsibility on Blair's fellow co-captain Issac Luke but, so far, he is revelling in it.

Luke may go from co-captain to sole skipper for the first test against England, with Adam Blair unlikely to be available for next weekend's match in Hull.

Seen by many as a risky choice, Luke has embraced all aspects of the job, from taking the young players under his wing to fronting up to media, and was one of the standouts against Leeds in what was a patchy performance from the touring side. In their first match as Kiwi co-captains, Luke and Blair led a stirring haka, which was also rapturously received by the Leeds faithful and a sprinkling of New Zealand fans.

The home side, playing before a season-best crowd of 20,158, took the lead with less than 30 minutes remaining before the Kiwis kicked into gear.

"It was very competitive in the first half and, at times, we made it hard on ourselves," said coach Stephen Kearney. "On defence we let Leeds dictate to us how they wanted to play. There were a lot of offloads."

The performance showed the value of a dress rehearsal because going in cold against England would have been asking for trouble. The players who went deep into the NRL finals - including co-captain Blair - seemed to cope better while others were gasping for their second wind.

"We got the conditioning we needed," said Kearney. "Some of our guys haven't played since the first week of September. Tonight was about blowing out those cobwebs."

Meanwhile, England fine-tuned their preparations for the forthcoming Test series against New Zealand with a record-breaking 84-4 thrashing of France on Saturday.

New Zealand Kiwis 34 (Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 2, Jason Nightingale, Jordan Kahu, Jesse Bromwich, Dean Whare, Kodi Nikorima tries; Tuimoala Lolohea 2, Issac Luke goals). Leeds Rhinos 16 (Joel Moon 2, Tom Briscoe tries; Jordan Lilley 2 goals). Halftime:10-6.