Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE

Faumuina returns for Blues against Bulls

All Blacks prop Charlie Faumuina is poised to make his return from injury for the Blues in their fifth-round Super Rugby match against the Bulls.

Blues` head coach Tana Umaga
Coach Tana Umaga has made one change to his starting line-up for the Blues' clash against the Bulls. (AAP)

Coach Tana Umaga has made just one change to his starting line-up for the Blues' Super Rugby clash against the Bulls in Auckland on Saturday.

All Blacks prop Charlie Faumuina is expected to return from a leg injury, but will be assessed following Thursday's training and has been bracketed with North Harbour's Sione Mafileo.

The rest of the starting team is unchanged from the one that started in last week's 33-24 loss to the Crusaders.

Umaga said while the Blues had let a winning lead slip late in the game, there were plenty of positives last week.

"We wanted clear progress from the week before in terms of our lineout and our error rate. We got that," he said.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

"The lineout was excellent, we had a stable platform, and we had much less handling mistakes."

As a result, he said the Blues were strong in the first half with three excellent tries.

Umaga was pleased overall with his team's defensive effort, but said they struggled in the second half to combat the Crusaders' rolling maul.

"We did not help ourselves with a number of penalties which allowed the Crusaders to be a constant threat inside our red zone"

Flanker Blake Gibson will play his 18th game for the Blues while All Blacks prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi will again make his impact off the bench on Saturday.

Blues: Michael Colllins, Matt Duffie, Rieko Ioane, George Moala, Melani Nanai, Piers Francis, Augustine Pulu, Jerome Kaino, Blake Gibson, Jimmy Tupou, Patrick Tuipulotu, Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, Charlie Faumuina/Sione Mafileo, James Parsons (captain), Pauliasi Manu. Reserves: Matt Moulds, Ofa Tu'ungafasi/Sam Prattley, Sione Mafileo /Tu'ungafasi, Akira Ioane, Murphy Taramai, Sam Nock, Ihaia West, TJ Faiane.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world