Sititi, while named in coach Scott Robertson's side on Monday, was then forced to withdraw after a visit to a surgeon confirmed an upper ankle injury that would keep him out of the three France Tests that start in Dunedin and continue in Wellington and Hamilton.
In The Rugby Paper, columnist Chris Hewett said Sititi's injury was 'sad to the point of depressing.'
"Like every other attention-craving spectator sport engaged in the battle for eyeballs, rugby needs its box-office talents on the field, not in the operating theatre.
"We speak of Wallace Sititi, and we can only trust to luck that we don't find ourselves wondering how many international caps he might have won had he managed to stay fit for longer than a few months at a time.
"The Samoan-born forward made such an impact in his freshman term as an All Black he was awarded glittering prizes both at home and abroad: 'Player of the Year' at the New Zealand awards ceremony; 'Breakthrough Player' at the World Rugby jamboree.
"Then came knee surgery, followed in short order by a mangled ankle, which has cost him any chance of featuring in the forthcoming Test series with France."
Hewett said 'orthopaedic trauma' was an occupational hazard in rugby and always had been.
"But every now and then, a brilliant prospect runs into trouble early and never quite finds a way of discovering the best of himself. Sititi's father Semo, who led Samoa at two World Cups, had the good fortune to enjoy a career entire.
"If, in a decade, Sititi Jnr can say the same, we will have been enriched."