Tuiali'i Canterbury career over
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:44
All Black number eight Mose Tuiali’I has effectively ended his career with Canterbury after a neck injury ruled him out of action for a minimum of three weeks.
Tuiali’i came on as a substitute for Canterbury against Southland in their Air New Zealand Cup win on Friday but was then soon replaced himself when he appeared to take a serious knock to his neck.
The hard running loose forward was taken to hospital but released the next day after X-ray’s showed he had sustained bruising of the spinal cord and, while he would have to be out of the game for three weeks, he was able to return to Christchurch with the team.
Tuiali’i is set to join Japanese club Yamaha at the end of the season and will therefore almost certainly have played his last game for his beloved state.
Canterbury coach Rob Penney said: “It is very sad that Moss’s Canterbury career had to end on such a sad note. Moss has been a superb performer for Canterbury over the years.
“He offers so much to the team – both in terms of attack and defence, but also off the field. He is a great bloke and a great character and the impact of his loss to the team cannot be overstated.
“We are very pleased to hear that Moss will make a full recovery so he and Brooke (his wife) can continue their future together in Japan.”
The 27 year-old played 42 times for Canterbury as well as 68 times for the Crusaders in the international Super rugby competitions.
While failing to really establish himself as a first team regular for the national side Mose did play nine time for the All Blacks after making his debut against Argentina in 2004.
