Richard Kahui has been ruled out of rugby for the rest of the year.

A shoulder injury means the All Blacks and Waikato centre will not play again until 2011, continuing an appalling run of bad luck with injuries.

Kahui re-injured his right shoulder playing for Waikato against North Harbour on September 4 after being sidelined for two months when he suffered a small fracture of his shoulder socket in the All Blacks' opening Tri-Nations test against South Africa in Auckland.

Injury also sidelined him for a large portion of 2007 and last year he spent another six months on the sidelines due to a shoulder problem.

All Blacks doctor Deb Robinson said Kahui underwent an arthroscopy in Auckland on Wednesday which confirmed surgery was required.

She said the arthroscopic procedure confirmed that the fracture was healing well, but Kahui had suffered a partial tear to his rotator cuff (the tendons that act to stabilise the shoulder) as well as minor cartilage damage, so had further surgery to repair those injuries.

"It's a real blow for Richard who had been recovering well from the earlier injury, but it's in his best interests to get the shoulder fixed now," she said.

Robinson said Kahui will be available for next year's Super rugby competition.

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