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'It's a huge blow': Highlanders injury woes continue as date is set for Japan star Kazuki Himeno's debut

(Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)

The Highlanders have been hit with another injury blow, losing midfielder Fetuli Paea for the season due to a high ankle sprain sustained in a pre-season match against the Hurricanes last week.

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Head coach Tony Brown confirmed the news while speaking to media shortly after the Highlanders team to play the Crusaders this weekend was announced on Wednesday.

“He’s got a high ankle sprain and needs an operation, so unfortunately Fetuli’s out for the year, which is frustrating for him and, for us, it’s a huge blow,” Brown said.

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“He was going great and he was fitting into both our attack and defence well, and in the environment, he was starting to be a real leader, so we’ll have to get him back in there next year.”

Paea was a standout for the Dunedin franchise across both of their pre-season games against the Crusaders and Hurricanes, but Brown will now have to make do without the two-test Tongan international, who was a new signing from the Crusaders.

The news of Paea’s loss comes just a week after the Highlanders confirmed three-test Wallabies prop Jermaine Ainsley, another new recruit from the Melbourne Rebels, is also out for the season after suffering the same injury during training.

Brown said no injury replacement has yet been decided, but he has called on another former Crusader in Ngatungane Punivai to cover for Paea’s absence in the No. 13 jersey.

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The 22-year-old will pair up with Patelesio Tomkinson in the midfield against Crusaders duo Dallas McLeod and Jack Goodhue, but Brown said it was a tight call between Punivai and Michael Collins to fill Paea’s boots.

That positional battle was one of many Brown and his coaching group faced when selecting their side for Friday’s Super Rugby Aotearoa season-opener.

“I thought the outside backs were a tough selection, and then also at centre once Fetuli was out injured,” Brown said.

“I think both Michael and Ngane have done a good job there, so that was a tough selection, and then in the forwards, there’s the loose forwards with Jimmy [Lentjes] coming back from injury, at lock with [Manaaki] Selby-Rickit.

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“We’ve got a lot more depth than we’ve had in the past, so it’s exciting for us as a coaching team to go through those selection dilemmas and making sure we nail that final 23.”

 

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One player who didn’t come into consideration was Japan’s World Cup star Kazuki Himeno, who left his managed isolation facility on Monday following two weeks in quarantine after arriving in New Zealand.

Brown and his assistants maintained throughout pre-season that the 26-year-old would be unavailable for the first match of the season due to a lack of match fitness.

However, Brown revealed Himeno will be available for the round three clash against the Blues in Auckland on March 14.

“He’s going to need a couple of weeks, two weeks to get himself physically conditioned for Super Rugby, and then we’ll look to see if he can enter our selection discussions.”

Once he returns to action, Himeno is set to go head-to-head with Shannon Frizell, Marino Mikaele-Tu’u and Liam Squire for places in the match day side at blindside flanker and No. 8.

Frizell and Mikaele-Tu’u have both been handed starting duties this week, with Squire set to kick-off his second stint with the Highlanders from the bench after recovering from an injury niggle throughout pre-season.

Brown has full confidence in Squire’s fitness, but made note of the fact Friday’s match will be the 29-year-old’s first in over 12 months.

“100 percent confident in Liam, but he’s only playing his first game in over a year, so we just want to get him started and I’m sure he’ll be a little bit nervous, but the boys love having him in the side and I’m sure he’s going to impact the game well.”

Elsewhere, the selection of Mitch Hunt at No. 10 ahead of Josh Ioane will have raised some eyebrows, but Brown said both players had performed well in recent weeks and that Ioane has the potential win the game as an impact player.

As for new fullback Solomon Alaimalo, Brown said the pure talent of the former Chiefs flyer was enough to secure him the No. 15 jersey, despite emphasising the importance of the playmaking role in that position late last year.

“I think he needs a lot more developing in that role, but his X-factor and his ability on the rugby field is why we’ve put him there, so we’re hoping for a lot of that on Friday night and then we’ll keep building his game around being able to be that second playmaker.”

Listen to the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod below:

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SK 31 minutes ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

The way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.

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