Jerome Kaino
Charles Piutau
The battling Blues may have to do without All Blacks duo Jerome Kaino and Charles Piutau for the rest of the season.
The Auckland side picked up their 2nd win of the season against the Western Force on Saturday, but the victory came at a dear price with skipper Jerome Kaino and fullback Charles Piutau both going down injured.
Abrasive loose forward Kaino sustained a compound fracture of his finger which saw the bone pop out of his skin, potentially sidelining him for 2 months.
Ulster-bound Piutau suffered another injury to his left knee, with suspected medial ligament damage which would be a recurrence of an injury that kept him out of the game for 2 months last year.
“It’s similar to last year against the Chiefs. He can’t feel anything so we’ll have to get him scanned. It could be a wee while,” coach John Kirwan said.
Kaino got his finger caught in the jersey of Force wing Nick Cummins, and had his arm in a sling along with stitches in his finger.
“The bone came out of the skin but from what the doctors have been saying it looks a lot worse than what it is.
“Worst case scenario they say 8 weeks. Best case scenario I’ll be back in a couple of weeks,” he said.
The World Cup winner said that his finger only really started to hurt once it had been put back in place.
“I wasn’t nauseous. I was thinking how to get it back in place and if it was going to hurt. It was a bit numb to start off with but when the doctor started trying to wiggle it back in place that’s when the pain started coming.
“It’s the 1st time I’ve done something like this. I’ll hope for the best when the X-rays come through tomorrow,” he added.
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