The Chiefs have helped to ease the New Zealand men's sevens team's injury crisis.
Etene Nanai-Seturo playing for the All Black Sevens. Photo: Photosport
The Super Rugby franchise has released Etene Nanai-Seturo from pre-season duty to join the All Blacks Sevens in South Africa, ahead of this weekend's world series tournament in Cape Town.
New Zealand suffered an unprecedented run of injuries in Dubai last weekend, with six players going down before and during the event.
Despite only having nine available players for the Dubai final, the All Blacks Sevens still claimed the title with a 21-5 win over USA.
New Zealand Rugby High Performance Sevens Manager Tony Philp says it is a unique situation.
"We are hugely thankful to the Chiefs for releasing Etene from his pre-season duties, this highlights the positive relationships we have been fostering with Super Clubs and is another example of how we can work together," Philp said.
All Blacks Sevens coach Clark Laidlaw has also called up Trael Joass and Taylor Haugh, while he's hopeful Jona Nareki and Regan Ware will recover from their knocks in time to feature in Cape Town.
Co-captain Tim Mikkelson was unavailable due the impending arrival of his first child, while Joe Webber is continuing his recovery from an arthritic injury and Joe Ravouvou awaits his New Zealand citizenship after changes to the World Series eligibility rules prevents him from competing until such time.
