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Blues lock Patrick Tuipulotu ruled out of playoffs and England series

Patrick Tuipulotu of the Blues sits on the bench during the Super Rugby Pacific Quarter Final match between the Blues and Fijian Drua at Eden Park, on June 08, 2024, in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu will miss the rest of the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs after suffering a knee injury against the Fijian Drua.

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In a gutting blow, the talismanic leader will not only miss the Blues’ semi-finals and potential final, he will be unavailable for All Black duty when Scott Robertson’s side takes on England in July.

The torn knee ligament has a 6-7 week recovery timeframe meaning he likely will be back in action for the All Blacks during the Rugby Championship.

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Player Tackles Won

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Dalton Papali'i
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Hoskins Sotutu
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James Thompson
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He lasted 19 minutes against the Drua and was seen nursing the knee with an icepack from the bench for the rest of the game.

James Thompson replaced Tuipulotu from the bench on Saturday night, but Sam Darry and Laghlan McWhannell are expected to return from concussion stand downs this week.

The Blues host the Brumbies at Eden Park in one semi-final, while the Hurricanes play the Chiefs in what will be a physical Kiwi derby with a spot in the final on the line.

Fixture
Super Rugby Pacific
Blues
36 - 5
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Fijian Drua
All Stats and Data

 

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Comments

6 Comments
S
SadersMan 297 days ago

Poor ole Paddy, like sands through the hour glass . . .

Did I spot Guzzler in the crowd at the Tron???

J
Jen 297 days ago

Ooooooohhhhh nooooooo. Getting a bit thin.

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J
JW 50 minutes ago
Razor has an about turn on All Blacks eligibility rules

Yep, another problem!


I think he would have, in the instance I mentioned, which wasn’t changing anything other than correctly applying todays eligibility quidelines. Which is an arbitrary construct, as the deal likely would have played out completely differently, but I just ‘allowed’ him to have 1 year sabbatically for his ‘loyalty’, rather than having some arbitrary number like 70 caps required.


So if Richie had a 3 year deal, and the first year he was allowed to use him still, I don’t think he’d really not transition to Dmac being his main 10, as he’s obviously the only one he can use for the following two years, therefore likely his only real option for the WC (very hard for Richie to overtake him in such a short time). Richie would purely be a security net in a situation like I proposition where there are only small changes to the eligibility.


The system is not working well enough though, as we don’t have the Rugby Championship or World Cup trophies, do we? Well on that last question, that’s all I’m really saying but I would not believe a word this author says, so it’s entirely a ‘what if’ discussion, but if the author is right and now they are actually going to be more flexible, I think that’s great yeah. Ultimately thought I think those two players were an anomaly signing their contracts and futures up so far ahead, especially of when they were performing. Both jumped at the opportunity of good contracts when their All Black prospects weren’t looking that bright.

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