WELLINGTON - Canterbury Crusaders centre Robbie Fruean will be sidelined for the rest of the Super 15 season after breaking his arm in the weekend defeat to the Waikato Chiefs, the club said Monday.
Canterbury Crusaders centre Robbie Fruean (C) during the Super 15 game against the Southern Kings in Christchurch on March 23, 2013
Fruean has had surgery to insert a plate in his arm and will take four to five months to recover, ending his season, the Crusaders added.
"We know that Robbie wanted to make this a great season so this is hugely disappointing for him," coach Todd Blackadder said.
The injury is another hurdle in the talented 26-year-old's stop-start career, which has been hampered by a heart condition stemming from a childhood bout of rheumatic fever.
He has been talked about as an All Blacks contender at various points in his career, but such ambitions have been stymied by two rounds of open-heart surgery.