Chiefs assistant coach Neil Barnes says the team are hurting after suffering two defeats in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Luke Jacobson is frustrated.
The Chiefs and All Blacks loose forward is facing yet another lengthy stint on the sidelines, breaking his hand in last weekend's loss to the Blues in Hamilton.
Jacobson says he has no idea when it occurred in the game, only noticing there was something wrongwhen he put weight on it while packing a scrum early in the second half.
"After that, running around, I could feel something moving around a little bit. I felt it out and it didn't feel that good," Jacobson tells the Herald. "But to be fair it wasn't too sore, so I was hopeful it wasn't something too bad, but after the game talking to Doc (Zig Khouri), he seemed to think pretty quickly it was broken. I got an x-ray the next day and, obviously, it was broken."
The Chiefs confirmed earlier in the week Jacobson would be out of action for up to six weeks, ruling him out of the remainder of a condensed Super Rugby Aotearoa season. As a result, since the beginning of the 2019 season, Jacobson has been able to feature in just 13 matches, including a small 10-minute stint early in 2020 and his two tests for the All Blacks prior to the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
In 2019, Jacobson was hampered by concussion issues which limited him to eight games for the Chiefs. He was able to do enough in those performances to garner the attention of the All Blacks selectors, and what he did in camp and during his two performances for the national side earned him a spot in the Rugby World Cup squad. However, a week before the tournament he was again hit by concussion symptoms and he was ruled out of the tournament.
Luke Jacobson is set for yet another stint on the sidelines. Photo / Photosport
In returning to Chiefs camp ahead of the 2020 season, Jacobson suffered a hamstring injury which kept him out of the opening rounds and was reaggravated in the side's fourth-round match against the Brumbies.
"It's niggly," Jacobson says of his latest setback.
"I think it's definitely just being unlucky. I would have landed on my hand in the weekend, I probably would've done it a thousand times playing footy, but something might've been in a little bit of an awkward position this time and it broke.
"With my hamstring, I could probably put that down to maybe my warmup and not preparing well enough for the speed. But it was the start of the season and is something I'll learn from – not going too hard and fast at the start. Then the concussion, you can't control that. I'd say that and hand were more unlucky, my hamstring was maybe a little more controllable, but head and hand were just unlucky."
What makes matters that much more frustrating for the hard-hitting Jacobson is the timeline for rehabilitation on his hand. If he's lucky, he may be match fit for the final game of the season, however he's resigned to not having the chance to further his claim to another opportunity in the black jersey.
Luke Jacobson made his All Blacks debut in late 2019. Photo / Photosport
"I'm not expecting anything because I've played two games of footy this year," Jacobson says when asked of his All Blacks aspirations.
"It's not a team where your place is just there – you have to earn your way in to so I'm not expecting anything there. Which is fine, I'd be keen to just play Mitre 10 Cup and get some footy under my belt and just get some confidence back.
"It's frustrating but I just keep hoping this one's the last one. All you can do is go nail your rehab and put yourself in as good a spot to not get injured."
