Newstalk ZB

Wallace Sititi recovering well after heavy head knock in Chiefs clash

All Blacks loosie Wallace Sititi is “chirpy and chatting away” after his sickening head knock playing against the Reds on Saturday night, but he’s unlikely to pull the Chiefs jersey on again this season. Chiefs assistant coach David Hill said today Sititi was recovering well. “It’s not great for anyone to get a head knock, but everyone did a great job ... getting prepared for all of that. He’s at home, he’s out of hospital, scans have showed nothing of note and he’s just in the protocols – he’s back chirpy and chatting away, so that’s good news for everyone." Hill said medical staff would “make the right decision for Wallace” regarding any return to action for the Chiefs. Concussion protocols mean Sititi would likely miss this Friday’s semi-final against the Crusaders, along with any final appearance the following Saturday against either the Hurricanes or Blues. “With two games to go potentially, I don’t think he’ll be coming back – so, yeah we’ll find out in due course.” Sititi’s head knock came at the tail of a typically powerful charge midway through the first half of the match against the Reds. His head made contact with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto’s shoulder before bouncing into the head of teammate Sione Ahio. Sititi rolled himself into the recovery position before visibly shaking for a few seconds. Match play was stopped for an extended period as medical staff attended to Sititi. He managed to get to his feet, looking dazed and confused, before leaving the field sitting on a medicab. The Chiefs have a six-day turnaround after what Hill said was “probably our most physical game of the year”. “We’ve had about seven six-day turnarounds this year, so it’s pretty normal for us. It’s one of the beauties of doing it during the year that you get used to a short turnaround – a sharp week. We’ll do our normal Wednesday-Thursday prep into a Friday game, so yeah, not too much different to what we’ve done in the season.”