Rugby: All Blacks and Blues prop Ofa Tuungafasi ruled out of upcoming July tests

Blues prop Ofa Tuungafasi will miss the All Blacks' first two tests of the year. Photo / Photosport

All Blacks and Blues prop Ofa Tuungafasi faces a spell on the sidelines and will miss the July tests against Tonga and Fiji.

Tuungafasi missed out on the Blues squad to face the Highlanders in Saturday's Super Rugby Transtasman final, with coach Leon MacDonald revealing the 29-year-old will have to undergo minor surgery to repair a knee issue.

"His knee is causing more trouble than what we had hoped and his finger is a bit of a mess as well so he's a bit battered at the moment," MacDonald said. "He's having a little tidy up to clear his knee up so that's going to keep him on the sidelines for a few more weeks."

An All Blacks update later confirmed that Tuungafasi will be ruled out of the two upcoming tests next month, but he is hoped to be available for selection for the Bledisloe Cup series against Australia in August.

The All Blacks squad for the July series will be named on Monday night.

The Blues will also be missing influential loose forward Tom Robinson, who has failed to recover from a head knock against the Western Force last week.

While Robinson will be missed, MacDonald said Akira Ioane will step in as a handy replacement at No 6.

"He's set an attitude with the way he hits rucks and gets around the park and he goes for 80 minutes. We'll be asking all our players to play like Tom to get the result. The Highlanders pride themselves on their fitness and work-rate and we've got to be able to match that.

"We'll miss Tom but I know Aki is ready to step into those boots as is the rest of the forward pack."