Kaino out of action for 4-6 weeks

Thursday, April 27, 2017 Lynn McConnell Getty Images

All Blacks flanker and strong man of the loose forwards Jerome Kaino is out of action for four to six weeks in order to have an operation on his knee.

It is expected that all going well he will have recovered before the tour of the British & Irish Lions tour gets under way in June.

He suffered a slight meniscus tear in his knee during the side's last game against the Hurricanes.

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Blues assistant coach Steve Jackson said on Thursday the injury caused the knee to lock on occasions and while it could come right over time the best thing for Kaino was to have the operation.

"He's got a lot of big things coming up towards June so now was the time to get it done. And again, he was feeling it and as I said before it was locking up on him so potentially he could have played with some discomfort then if it locked up during game time we would have to replace him anyway," he said.

The Blues team to play the Brumbies on Sunday in Canberra is: 1.Pauliasi Manu, 2.James Parsons (captain), 3.Charlie Faumuina, 4.Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 5.Scott Scrafton, 6.Steven Luatua, 7.Blake Gibson, 8.Akira Ioane, 9.Augustine Pulu, 10.Piers Francis, 11.Reiko Ioane, 12.Sonny Bill Williams, 13.George Moala, 14.Matt Duffie, 15.Michael Collins.

Substitutes: 16.Matt Moulds, 17.Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 18. Sione Mafileo, 19.Leighton Price, 20.Murphy Taramai, 21.Billy Guyton, 22.Bryn Gatland, 23.Melani Nanai.

Four NZ teams were in action during Round 9 of #SuperRugby, but which of these five tries did YOU think was the best?#SuperBoomBoom pic.twitter.com/xJTdJEmWRP— Super Rugby (@SuperRugbyNZ) April 24, 2017