New Zealand Rugby have confirmed Blues skipper Jerome Kaino will miss the Blues Super Rugby opening round match against the Highlanders at Eden Park on Friday.
Kaino has been suspended for throwing a punch in the Blues final Super Rugby warm up match against the Chiefs last week and has been given a week ban which rules him out for this week.
Kaino was red carded by referee Brendon Pickerill under law 10.4 (a) for striking Chiefs prop Pauliasi Manu during their final pre-season fixture at ECOLight Stadium in Pukekohe.
Kaino lodged an early admission of the offence which was acknowledged by Duty Judicial Officer Roger Drummond before he handed down the one-week suspension.
In his written decision, Mr Drummond noted that Kaino had held a clean judicial record for more than 10 years and that he was remorseful and had apologised to Manu. He also accepted Kaino’s submission that his action was reckless and not intentional.
Kaino will be available for the Blues match against the Crusaders in Christchurch the following week.
