Canes lose front row forward
Hurricanes prop Jeffery Toomaga-Allen has been ruled out for eight weeks following a knee injury during the Hurricanes' loss to the Chiefs last Friday.
Toomaga-Allen suffered a tear of his MCL, but surgery will not be required for the prop.
The Hurricanes prop replaced Ben May in the 55th minute of the match but was only on the field for 10 minutes before he suffered the injury and was replaced by May.
In what was a hard-fought game in trying conditions the Hurricanes have emerged with a fairly healthy squad after their loss.
With their play-off hopes all but gone, Toomaga-Allen is the only casualty from the game as the Hurricanes prepare to take on the Australian front-runners the Brumbies in Canberra this coming Friday.
The injury also means he will miss any chance of playin g for the All Blacks against France next month.
However, he remained upbeat.
"The positive I take out of it is knowing I don't need surgery, so it won't keep me out any longer," he told Fairfax NZ.
"It'll be [just] eight weeks and I'll be back for the NPC competition, so I'm looking forward to that.
"Knowing I'm coming back to play is excitement enough for me.
"I'll worry about the All Blacks later, the All Blacks will always be there [as the goal], but Wellington, I really want to push for a championship. That's my next goal. You have to set goals," he said.
