All Blacks winger Narawa reinjures back and leaving Rugby World Cup

PARIS — One-cap winger Emoni Narawa has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup by New Zealand after hurting his back in training.

Coach Ian Foster announced on Wednesday that Narawa was going home.

“It's incredibly sad,” Foster said. "In the Twickenham week (two weeks ago), he ran his fastest time of the year. He was coming back from a niggly back after the Argentina test (in early July), he felt he was coming right. He's trained really well and worked incredibly hard but the last thing he did on Monday, he jarred it. It turns out it was the other side of the disc.”

Narawa made a try-scoring debut against Argentina in the Rugby Championship then hurt his back and didn't play again. But he was still picked for his first World Cup.

Foster said they will decide on a replacement after seeing how the All Blacks fare against tournament host France on Friday in the World Cup opening match in Paris. He suggested they may not replace Narawa with another outside back.