The Blues have been dealt an injury blow before Super Rugby Pacific has even kicked off after captain Patrick Tuipulotu suffered a fractured jaw.
The All Blacks lock suffered the injury late in the first half of the Blues opening pre-season match against Tokyo Sungoliath at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium.
The Blues won the match 43-7.
Blues head coach Vern Cotter says he was feeling for his captain, who will be out for 8 to 10 weeks.
Cotter says he has a resilient group and they have got a strong stock of locks to call on while he recovers.
He says a decision on who will take over the Blues captaincy will be made in the coming days.
The Blues take on the Yokohama Canon Eagles at Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium in their second pre-season match on Saturday February 10 at 5.10pm as part of the Cross-Border Rugby competition.
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Source: Stuff.co
