Kaino To Give Blues "A Considerable Lift"

Jerome Kaino wants to make it up to his Blues teammates.

Kaino will make his first appearance of the Super Rugby season in their second game against the Crusaders, having missed the win over the Highlanders through suspension for punching.

The captain says he's been stewing over it for the entire week.

"Wasn't really frustrated at the sentence, it was just more that I had let the team down and I couldn't be out there."

Assistant coach Paul Feeney said Kaino's inclusion to play the Crusaders is a considerable lift.

"Jerome, even though he didn't play last week, had a lot of input at last week's training, and obviously he was gutted that he couldn't play. So there'll be some fireworks out of him I'm sure this Friday."

Feeney said Akira Ioane, Charlie Faumuina and Rene Ranger are also likely to feature in the starting lineup this week after coming off the bench in round one.

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