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Kaino expected to face Lions despite knee surgery

The Blues host the Hurricanes at Eden Park this Friday night.

Jerome Kaino will undergo knee surgery but the New Zealand flanker is expected to be fit to face the British and Irish Lions.

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Blues will be without Kaino for up to six weeks after he suffered a slight meniscus tear in his knee during the 28-24 Super Rugby defeat to Hurricanes last weekend.

It is anticipated that the 34-year-old loose forward will be back to full fitness in time for the three-match series against the Lions, which starts at Eden Park on June 24.

Blues assistant coach Steve Jackson said: “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.”

Jackson added: “He’ll get his feet up and normally you come back quick from those sorts of operations. I’m pretty sure he’ll be fine for the Lions tour.”

Maori All Black loose forward Akira Ioane will replace Kaino in the Blues starting line-up when they take on Brumbies in Canberra on Sunday.

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Nickers 28 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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