Rugby: Chiefs loose forward Luke Jacobson ruled out of Super Rugby Aotearoa season

For Luke Jacobson, the 2020 season has become all but a write-off.

The Chiefs and All Blacks loose forward has been ruled out of the remainder of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season after fracturing his hand in Saturday night's 24-12 loss to the Blues in Hamilton.

Jacobson was playing in just his third match of 2020, after being limited to just 10 minutes of action in the Super Rugby season prior to the Covid-19 enforced hiatus due to a hamstring injury.

His hamstring injury came after he had shaken off a concussion which saw him ruled out of the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup campaign late last year - just a week before the competition started.

Speaking to the Herald prior to the opening round of Super Rugby Aotearoa, Jacobson said it had been the first time in his young career that he had been hit by a string of injuries.

"Before last year, the longest I had been out for was maybe three or four weeks with an ankle," Jacobson said.

Jacobson is facing a rehabilitation process of up to six weeks, leading to his unavailability for the remainder of the Chiefs' campaign.

As a result, the 23-year-old has only been able to feature in 11 matches for the Chiefs over the past two seasons.

Jacobson featured in all 160 minutes of the Chiefs' first two games in Super Rugby Aotearoa, and looked as though he hadn't missed a step in his time out of the game.

With Jacobson ruled out, Chiefs coach Warren Gatland will be hoping at least one of Sam Cane (back), Mitchell Brown (neck) or Mitchell Karpik (back) will be ready to play when the side meet the Crusaders on Sunday afternoon. Cane and Karpik have both missed the opening two rounds of the season, while Brown was injured early in the Chiefs' round-one match against the Highlanders.