Tony Woodcock sustained a shoulder injury while playing the Crusaders © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

Article: Super Rugby line-ups: Round 19

Article: Super Rugby preview: Round 19

Features: Scrum5: And then there were nine

Article: Blues sign Ihaia West on two-year contract

Match Pack: Crusaders beat Blues to secure finals berth

The Blues will be without captain Luke Braid and veteran All Blacks prop Tony Woodcock for their crunch match against the Chiefs at Eden Park on Friday.

Woodcock sustained a shoulder injury during the loss to the Crusaders, while Braid has been carrying a shoulder injury all season and will undergo surgery on Thursday. Sam Prattley will replace Woodcock at loose-head prop while Brendon O'Connor comes in for Luke.

Blues coach Sir John Kirwan said that Braid had "been having issues so he needs to have double shoulder reconstruction".

"We had two tentative dates booked, this week and the week after the finals and I just felt that if we could get it done now then he'd be back for the beginning of next season," Kirwan said. ""It'll be quite a long recovery, the next date is a month away which would mean he'd miss the first month of next season and while we haven't given up hope of making the finals we've got a great guy to come in in Brendon O'Connor so there's not too much of a loss from a technical point of view."

Charles Piutau returns to fullback in a reshuffled Blues backline, with Tevita Li moving onto the left wing in place of George Moala with Lolagi Visinia hoping to overcome a quadriceps haematoma in order to start on the other wing. Francis Saili comes in at centre to replace Pita Ahki who has joined the New Zealand Sevens team ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The Blues must beat back-to-back champions the Chiefs by 38 points while denying them a bonus point to give themselves a fighting chance of making the top six, but Kirwan said "if there's one team in this competition that can do it on Friday night, it's us".

"We scored five tries in 25 minutes against the Lions and if things bounce our way we can score points like no other football team and when we're confident we're really scary. We got our bonus point after 18 minutes against the Force. Obviously this is a different football team we're coming up against on Friday but there's a lot for us to play for."

Blues: Charles Piutau; Lolagi Visinia / George Moala, Francis Saili, Ma'a Nonu, Tevita Li; Ihaia West, Bryn Hall; Jerome Kaino, Brendon O'Connor, Steven Luatua; Tom Donnelly, Patrick Tuipulotu; Charlie Faumuina, Keven Mealamu (captain), Sam Prattley. Replacements: James Parsons, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Angus Ta'avao, Hayden Triggs, Peter Saili, Jamison Gibson-Park, Jackson Willison, George Moala / Albert Nikoro.