All Blacks blow as key forward suffers season-ending injury but Scott Robertson boosted by Beauden Barrett’s rapid recovery
Blues and All Blacks stars Beauden Barrett (James Foy/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire) and Ofa Tu'ungafasi.
There has been mixed news on the injury front for the All Blacks and their head coach Scott Robertson after the Blues named their team to take on the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Pacific.
Positively for the Aucklanders, as well as the national team, Beauden Barrett has made a rapid recovery from a fractured hand and will start at fly-half this weekend.
Barrett sustained the injury in the defeat to the Brumbies last month and there were initial fears that he would be out for up to two months, but he has returned in half that time.
The playmaker will partner fellow All Black Finlay Christie at half-back as they look to move up the table after a dreadful start to their title defence.
Front-row blow
Losing Ofa Tu’ungafasi, who played a key role for Scott Robertson’s side in 2024 with his impact off the bench, will not help matters, however, with the prop out for the season due to a neck injury.
The Blues announced the news on their social media accounts, writing: “Unfortunate news out of Blues camp as our guy Ofa will be ruled out for the rest of the season with a neck injury. Speedy recovery, can’t wait to have you back out there in Blue.”
An exact timeline for the injury has not yet been given but, considering that the final of Super Rugby Pacific occurs just two weeks before the opening France Test, it could well extend into the Test campaign.
Jordan Lay and Joshua Fusitu’a have deputised in Tu’ungafasi’s absence but, with the former dropped, it is the latter who gets the nod to start this weekend. Mason Tupaea duly comes onto the bench in his first appearance in a matchday 23 this season.
Despite that setback in the front-row, it is otherwise good news on the injury front for the Blues, who see a plethora of key players returning.
All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu is among those to be back in the saddle and he once again captains the side, and he is joined up front by Anton Segner and Kurt Eklund.
Behind the scrum, it is a strong-looking backline, which includes internationals Mark Tele’a, Rieko Ioane and Caleb Clarke, but it is also bolstered by the return of the in-form AJ Lam.
There is Test quality on the bench with Angus Ta’avao and Stephen Perofeta among the replacements as the Blues look to finally kickstart their season.
The defending champions have endured a wretched opening to the year, winning just one of their six matches so far and finding themselves down in 10th position in the Super Rugby table, but they will hope to have a much better second half of the campaign.
Blues team to face the Hurricanes
Blues: 15 Corey Evans, 14 Mark Tele’a, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 AJ Lam, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Anton Segner, 5 Josh Beehre, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (c), 3 Marcel Renata, 2 Kurt Eklund, 1 Joshua Fusitu’a
Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli, 17 Mason Tupaea, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Cameron Suafoa, 20 Adrian Choat, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Xavi Taele, Stephen Perofeta
Date: Saturday, April 5
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 19:05 local (07:05 BST, 06:05 GMT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Matt Kellahan (Australia), Mike Winter (New Zealand)
TMO: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
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