Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu has shared his ideas on the “shock” omission of teammate and No 8 Hoskins Sotutu from the primary All Blacks squad of 2024.
The try-scoring again rower topped the charts with 12 throughout the Blues title-winning Tremendous Rugby Pacific marketing campaign, proving to be one of the crucial invaluable gamers within the competitors.
However after capturing their first Tremendous Rugby title since 2003, the champion Blues registered simply three forwards in Scott Robertson’s All Black squad.
Tuipulotu revealed the passing of a close relative has also weighed on Sotutu in the wake of the Super Rugby Pacific title win.
“He’s had a pretty tough couple of days and I want to send my condolences out to him and his family. There’s been a death in his family and that’s something pretty harsh to add to what he’s going through at the moment,” Tuipulotu told Stuff.co.nz.
“I was surprised [he’s not here]. He’s been a fairly constant performer for us all all through the season. I used to be fairly upset to not see his identify there.”
The All Black free forwards featured Ardie Savea, Luke Jacobson and Wallace Sititi, three candidates who play No 8 usually, in addition to Crusader Ethan Blackadder who can play throughout all three positions.
Sotutu shared a photograph of the Blues’ championship win on Instagram with the caption “MostHated” after the announcement of the All Blacks squad.
The cryptic submit receieved help from different Blues teammates, Akira Ioane who commented “don’t ship boys” and Ofa Tuungafasi who despatched help.
