Laulala sidelined by broken arm

Chiefs and All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala will be out of rugby for two to three months after fracturing his forearm against the Blues on Friday night.

Laulala cut a sorry figure leaving the field with his arm in a makeshift sling during the Chiefs’ brave 27-21 Super Rugby win over the Blues at Eden Park.

The Chiefs released a medical update yesterday which said that Laulala would require surgery and be out of action for eight to 12 weeks.

It’s yet another injury blow for the Chiefs, who had 15 players in their squad out injured when their side to play the Blues was named. Then they lost Shaun Stevenson and All Blacks powerhouse lock Brodie Retallick before kick-off.

Stevenson injured a knee in the warm-up and will be assessed this week, while the good news for the Chiefs is that Retallick, who got a poke in the eye at training, has recovered and will be available for selection next week. The Chiefs have a bye this weekend.

Last week, Atunaisa Moli and Tim Nanai-Williams were ruled out for the season. Moli had complications from a quad haematoma which required surgery, while Nanai-Williams had surgery to stabilise his shoulder on Friday.

Meanwhile, Tana Umaga and his beleaguered Blues simply can’t take a trick.

They were set to fly to Johannesburg via Sydney on Sunday ahead of their two-game South African Super Rugby sojourn, but were grounded in Auckland for 24 hours due to engineering issues with their plane.

The Blues were finally able to leave yesterday, which has forced their training schedule to be amended leading into Sunday’s clash with the Lions, last year’s beaten finalists, at Ellis Park.

Skipper and halfback Augustine Pulu hasn’t travelled to South Africa after suffering a foot injury in Friday’s loss to the Chiefs at Eden Park. Pulu is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.

Pulu’s injury is offset by the return of highly-rated first fiveeighth Stephen Perofeta, who is in the travelling squad after recovering from a hand injury. Perofeta proved his fitness, getting through 40 minutes against the Chiefs’ development side.

The Blues are the lone Kiwi side yet to win a match in the young season and find themselves in the familiar last spot in the cut-throat New Zealand conference.