Rugby: Kahui's season over

Richard Kahui. Photo / Christine Cornege

All Blacks and Waikato midfielder Richard Kahui has been ruled out of rugby for the rest of the season following shoulder surgery.

Kahui re-injured his shoulder playing for Waikato against North Harbour earlier this month.

He had been out of rugby since suffering a small fracture of his right shoulder socket in the All Blacks' opening Tri Nations Test against South Africa in July.

All Blacks Doctor Deb Robinson said Kahui underwent an arthroscopy in Auckland late yesterday which confirmed surgery was required.

She said the arthroscopic procedure had confirmed that the fracture was healing well, but Kahui had suffered a partial tear to his rotator cuff (the tendons that act to stabilise the shoulder) as well as minor cartilage damage, so had further surgery to repair those injuries.

"It's a real blow for Richard who had been recovering well from the earlier injury, but it's in his best interests to get the shoulder fixed now," Dr Robinson said.

Dr Robinson said as a result, Kahui will be out of rugby for the remainder of the year, ruling him out of contention for the All Blacks end of year tour, but he will be available for next year's Super Rugby competition.

- NZHERALD ONLINE