The Blues find their first injury replacement of the season

Mount Maunganui lock Aaron Carroll has been added to the Blues roster for the 2020 Super Rugby competition.

Carroll, 26, comes in for fellow Bay of Plenty lock Baden Wardlaw who withdrew on medical grounds and has retired.

Carroll played on loan for Thames Valley in 2017 before selection to the Bay of Plenty Steamers in 2018 where he has now earned 21 caps in two seasons and was part of the side’s senior leadership group.

“It’s a bit of a whirlwind few days. The first thing I did was to call Baden. I was really gutted for him. But he told me to go for it and that he was thrilled I got the call-up,” said Carroll.

He was voted the Chiefs Development team player of the year.

Blues General Manager High Performance, Tony Hanks, said that Carroll was an admirable replacement for Wardlaw.

“We’ve looked closely at targeting players with high work rate, physical, mobile and great character for our team. Aaron fits that group and along with Baden was a key part of the Bay of Plenty front five this year.”

- Blues Rugby

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