Piers Francis cleared to play for Blues after being knocked out

Piers Francis was knocked unconscious by Shaun Treeby in this tackle during the Blues' loss to the Stormers in Cape Town. Photo / Photosport

Blues first five-eighth Piers Francis has been cleared to face the Chiefs on Friday night despite suffering being knocked unconscious in the weekend's defeat to the Stormers.

Francis was knocked out for around 30 seconds in last Saturday's clash after copping a swinging ard from Shaun Treeby.

However the Blues have stated that Francis has cleared every concussion test this week and is fit to play on Friday at Eden Park.

Blues doctor Dr Stephen Kara confirmed that Francis had not developed any further symptoms in a range of regular testing under the protocol since including a full neurological exam and neuro-cognitive testing via SCAT scan.

He further tested clear after a return to training and completed the other graduated protocol steps to play with no recurrence of any symptoms.

In other team news, All Black Patrick Tuipulotu returns to the starting line-up, while Michael Collins also returns at fullback after both came off the bench last weekend.

Head Coach Tana Umaga said the team faced a significant test after the demanding one-off game in South Africa and he had adjusted their training to suit this week.

"This is our final derby game of the regular season and I know the team will want to produce their best performance of the season. We need to produce an 80-minute performance across the board and ensure we are disciplined in that approach."

Players not available because of injury include Jerome Kaino (knee), Pauliasi Manu (calf), Matt Moulds (knee), Ihaia West (ankle) and Jimmy Tupou (hamstring).

The Blues team is:

1 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 2 James Parsons (c), 3 Charlie Faumuina, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 5 Scott Scrafton, 6 Steven Luatua, 7 Blake Gibson, 8 Akira Ioane; 9 Augustine Pulu, 10 Piers Francis, 11 Rieko Ioane, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 13. George Moala, 14 Matt Duffie, 15 Michael Collins.

Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Sione Mafileo, 19 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 20 Kara Pryor, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Stephen Perofeta, 23 TJ Faiane.