Vice-captain Brown was replaced at half time after two heavy falls, first suffering the break – a tuberosity fracture of the humerus – when tackling Vince Grella and then landing directly on the injury in another tussle with the same player.
New Zealand medical staff will have a clearer idea of Brown’s likely recovery time following surgery in Auckland this morning, although a final decision is unlikely to be made for at least another week.
Age and fitness are on Brown’s side as he then looks to recover in time for the All White’s World Cup campaign which begins against Slovakia in Rustenburg on June 15. Herbert is hopeful the 29-year-old will make it back for that match or New Zealand’s second against Italy on June 20.
“Tim’s an integral part of the team,” Herbert says. “He’s been a big part of things for the last five years and he does a great job for us. It’ll be a big loss should he not make it.”
Another player, likely to be drawn from the seven put on stand-by when the 23-man squad was named, will now travel to Austria to be ready to officially replace Brown if needed. The final call is able to be made as late as June 14.
A decision on which player would be called up will be made in the next 24 hours.
The team departed Melbourne on Tuesday night bound for Austria where they will spend the next 11 days training at altitude with friendlies against Serbia (May 29) and Slovenia (June 4) the next steps in preparing the team for Slovakia.
Story courtesy NZF Media
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