Nehe Milne-Skudder

The luckless Hurricanes back has endured a torrid 18 months with injuries, including a dislocated left shoulder and broken foot.

His most recent setback - dislocating his right shoulder in this month's 25-24 Test win over South Africa - will keep him out until at least next April.

The Springboks match was Milner-Skudder's third Test of 2017, having played in the reverse fixture in Albany and against Argentina in New Plymouth.

Milner-Skudder posted on social media that the operation had gone well and recovery should be between six and seven months.

Milner-Skudder got 20 minutes off the bench in the Hurricanes Super Rugby win over the Western Force on Saturday night, his first outing since breaking a bone in his foot in round 3 in March.

The All Blacks squad for the Lions series is named on Thursday and while he'd probably be an outsider for that, Steve Hansen may consider him with Ben Smith in some doubt after leaving the field at the weekend.

Milner-Skudder isn't sure what part if any he'll play against the Lions.