All Blacks call for injury cover after bruising 1st test against South Africa

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand has been forced to call up a veteran and a rookie as injury cover after Saturday’s bruising 33-16 win over South Africa in the first test of a historic four-test series.

Prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi, who played the most-recent of his 68 tests for the All Blacks two years ago, and lock Jamie Hannah, who made his debut against France earlier this year, have been summoned as replacements for Ethan de Groot and Josh Lord.

Loosehead prop de Groot and lock Lord were injured in a collision of heads in the 38th minute of the test at Johannesburg. The 34-year-old Tu’ungafasi and 23-year-old Hannah are expected to join the New Zealand squad on Monday ahead of the final club match of the tour against the Lions.

Lord and de Groot both failed head injury assessments and are unlikely to be able to play in the second test next Saturday under existing concussion protocols.

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HONOLULU (AP) — Tropical Storm Moke advanced toward Hawaii on Saturday, likely bringing more heavy rainfall and strong gusts to the Big Island, where residents are still dealing with the aftermath of heavy flooding and damaging winds from Hurricane Lala.

Moke, which formed Friday in the Pacific Ocean, was located about 425 miles (680 kilometers) southeast of Hilo and moving west-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph). Maximum sustained winds were around 50 mph (85 kph), the National Hurricane Center said.

As with Hurricane Lala, the Big Island was expected to bear the brunt of Moke’s rain and heavy winds as it passes south of a direct hit late Saturday into early Sunday.

Moke was then forecast to continue its westward path near the islands through early Tuesday, said Casey Oswant, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

“There will still be impacts, especially to the windward and southeast sides of the Big Island, but it will probably be a little bit more limited than what we saw with Lala,” Oswant said.

Lala downed trees, swept buildings off their foundations, damaged roads and bridges and left roads covered in mud and rocks. Two storm-related deaths were reported.

Weekend rainfall predictions for the southeast and windward sides of the Big Island were 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters), with as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) in isolated areas, Oswant said. Across the rest of the island chain, 1 to 2 inches (2 to 5 centimeters) of rain was expected, though parts of east Maui could see up to 4 inches (10 centimeters).

There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect, but people were urged to closely monitor the storm’s progress. The rainfall has the potential to cause dangerous rip currents, life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in steep areas and places where the ground remains saturated, the center said.

The northeast coast of the Big Island saw the heaviest total rainfall from Lala, at 43.54 inches (1.1 meters), according to the weather service. More than 8,000 customers on the Big Island remained without power, according to poweroutage.us.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and other state officials held a news conference ahead of Moke, urging people to prepare by restocking food, medicine and other essentials.

“There’s definitely tension in the air” at the thought of more rain in communities that floodwaters turned into rivers, said Tiffany Edwards Hunt, a teacher living in Keaau, on the east side of the Big Island.

Associated Press writer Alexa St. John in Detroit contributed.