Tony Woodcock's All Blacks career is over after he pulled a hamstring in yesterday's 47-9 victory over Tonga.
Coach Steve Hansen confirmed the news late last night, which not only meant the end of Woodcock's tournament but also his long and successful All Blacks career. He played 118 internationals and scored his 10th test try yesterday.
All the latest news from the Rugby World Cup, including further fallout from England's exit and the sad end of Tony Woodcock's All Blacks career.
JUST HORSING AROUND
The fallout from England's limp World Cup exit continues, with reports emerging of bizarre pre-tournament leadership exercises.
According to the London Daily Telegraph, back-room staff were sent to take part in a team-building exercise that was derided within the camp.
Eight members of staff under head of athletic performance Matt Parker took part in what sounds like something from a corporate training manual.
The staff - which did not include any of the England coaching team - were told to choose a horse as a guide and walk around the field, with their performance recorded and analysed in an effort to encourage leadership and communication skills.
The participants led their horse round obstacles and a water jump, and were told they were being evaluated on how quickly they gained their horse's trust.
Parker delivered frank appraisals of everyone's performances, and the excursion finished with a barbeque.
The incident - which happened two years ago - is another unwanted embarrassment for Lancaster, who has seen his authority eroded in the week since the dismal defeat to Australia that eliminated England from their own World Cup.
The head coach may also feel frustrated with the horse trip being revealed after speaking in glowing terms about Parker before the tournament.
WANNA CHEAP TICKET?
In further evidence of the missed opportunity in England, media are also reporting that tickets for this morning's England-Uruguay match in Manchester have been put on the market by disgruntled fans for as little as £2.50 ($NZ5.72).
Steve Diamond, Sale's director of rugby, has claimed tickets for the dead rubber have dropped to less than three pounds and that's "No bull".
Category A tickets for the match were on sale before the tournament for up to £260 ($NZ595), meaning at the new price you would only be paying 0.96% of face value of the premium ticket.
'WOODY' GONE
Overnight confirmation that the All Blacks career of Tony Woodcock is over.
The All Blacks confirmed their veteran prop suffered a serious hamstring injury against Tonga and that his tournament is over. Canterbury's Joe Moody will be arriving in the UK about now to replace him.
They made hard work of it but Scotland edged Samoa 36-33 to reach the Cup quarter finals overnight. Read all about it here.
MARADONA MAGIC
World Cup quarter-finalists Argentina finish their pool campaign against Namibia tomorrow morning with inspiration from Diego Maradona driving them on.
Maradona watched the Pumas beat Tonga last week, and he has vowed to return if Argentina reach the semi-finals.
Maradona celebrating with Argentina. Photo / Getty Images.
They face a last-eight clash against Ireland or France, and Pumas skipper Agustin Creevy has hailed Maradona's support of the team.
'He gave us a speech (after the Tonga game),' Creevy said.
'He said the whole of Argentina was dreaming with us, everyone is behind us, supporting us. That was the reason he was here - he wanted to be a part of it.
'I could never have imagined he would have been there with us. It was a beautiful surprise for all of us. He said if we reach the semi-finals he will be there. He has set us a very high goal.'
JOE CALLS IN BIG GUNS
Ireland's rugby players have not done badly for inspiration this week either.
After being visited by Irish sporting greats Barry McGuigan, Sonia O'Sullivan, A?P McCoy, Niall Quinn and Henry Shefflin at their base on Wednesday night, Joe Schmidt's men then watched the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland secure famous European Championship football qualifying victories on Thursday night.
Whether their rugby men can cap the week by seeing off France at the Millennium Stadium remains to be seen, but the stakes could hardly be higher.
Five times Ireland have reached the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup and five times they have lost. Their chances of making it sixth time lucky next weekend may well hinge on tomorrow morning's outcome. Win and Ireland will almost certainly face Argentina in the last eight. Not easy, admittedly, but preferable to the All Blacks.
All in all, it adds up to a definite "fear factor", something to which Schmidt admitted.
"You wouldn't be human if, when the stakes are greater, you weren't a little bit more on edge, a little bit more pensive and questioning of your own decision-making, and the decision-making of the group," the Kiwi coach said. "It's one of the most exciting things about the job.
"But there are negative parts of it because there is a fear factor, and the massive support we've had probably exacerbates that because you don't want to let people down."
France have done their best to ramp up that pressure. Having spent the week trying to unnerve Ireland's chief playmaker Johnny Sexton, with their players threatening to "hunt down" the Ireland No 10, head coach Philippe Saint-André claimed Ireland had "all the pressure on their shoulders".
"They are the favourites," he said. "They haven't lost against us for four years. It would be a huge shame for them if they lost against us. We don't have any pressure."
Schmidt did his best to laugh off Saint-André's comments, claiming the most important reason for winning the pool was not the opportunity to avoid the All Blacks so much as the extra day's recovery they would get if they were to play Argentina. But he was not entirely convincing.
On the subject of France's threat to target Sexton, he was more sure-footed, saying that Sexton was a "big boy" who could look after himself, and noting that the Leinster No?10 had led Ireland to successive wins over the French.
But ultimately, Schmidt conceded that it might just come down to a bit of luck, as Martin O'Neill's men had on Thursday.
"Ireland massively deserved their victory [in the football] but the Germans probably missed a few. It was pretty nerve-racking in that last quarter. So look, I'm expecting a really combative game. I would take any sort of victory."
