All Blacks' midfield woes continue

NEWS: The All Blacks have lost Braydon Ennor for their July Tests against Tonga and Fiji after the centre had his appendix removed.

The 23-year-old Crusaders' star absence is a further blow to coach Ian Foster, who was already without Jack Goodhue for the rest of the season and his other starting centre from last year, Anton Lienert-Brown, for the first two July Tests.

If Foster decides against bringing a replacement for Ennor into the squad, he will be down to Rieko Ioane, David Havili and the uncapped Quinn Tupaea as his midfield options.

New Zealand play Tonga in Auckland on July 3 before back-to-back tests against Fiji in Dunedin and Hamilton.