Atu Moli ruled out for the season
New Zealand's Atu Moli during the 2019 Rugby World Cup match at Oita Stadium, Japan
Chiefs and All Blacks prop Atu Moli will sit out Super Rugby Aotearoa after it was confirmed he will require surgery on both of his hips.
Moli will have femoroacetabular impingement surgery on both left and right hips for chronic hip dysfunction and as a result has been ruled out for the season.
The Chiefs have also announced Tupou Vaa’i will join the Chiefs for the 2020 season. The powerful two-metre Taranaki lock has been training with the Chiefs squad since the team returned to training.
The injury replacement is for locking duo Michael Allardice and Laghlan McWhannell who have sustained season ending injuries. Both have undergone surgery, Allardice a shoulder reconstruction and McWhannell surgery to perform a patellar tendon debridement.
Wing Sam McNicol is another Chiefs player ruled out of the season, having had ankle surgery last week to correct his anterior impingement and tidy joint surfaces.