Blues captain Jerome Kaino will miss his team's first match of the new Super Rugby season after being handed a one‑match suspension for a punch in a warm‑up match against the Chiefs.
Attempting to free himself from a maul early in the second half of the clash on Friday, the All Blacks flanker and two‑time World Cup winner swung with his right hand and connected with the right eye of Chiefs prop Pauliasi Manu.
Kaino, who was handed a red card for the hit in the Blues 24‑12 victory, pleaded his case to New Zealand Rugby and apologised for the incident, but could not escape a ban which makes him unavailable for their season‑opener against the Highlanders at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday night.
The Blues will take on the Higlanders at 6.35pm this Friday.
Source: stuff.co
