The Highlanders have suffered a blow for the first two months of Super Rugby with the loss of lock Jarrad Hoeata.
rugbyweek
Hoeata ripped his pectoral muscle last week and had an operation earlier this week which is expected to rule him out for between three and four months.
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said that it was a “massive” blow to both the Highlanders and Hoeata.
Hoeata can play at both lock and blindside flanker suffered the injury when he was making a training and ripped the muscle off the bone.
“He was looking very good and mentally very hungry after what he achieved last year and wanted to carry on with that,” Joseph told the Otago Daily Times.
The lock was hoping to have a big season in 2012 but is now only likely to get back on the rugby field after four months and will miss the first third of the season.
The twenty-eight-year-old was Joseph’s first signing when he took over the Highlanders and played every game last season.
While he didn’t make the All Blacks squad for the Rugby World Cup Brad Thorn is heading overseas and Hoeata has been mentioned as a replacement after playing for the All Blacks against Fiji.
Other locks in the squad are Josh Bekhuis and new signing Cullum Retallick, while Nick Crosswell could also cover at lock.
Bekhuis has however not started full training yet as he recovers from an operation to fix a groin injury.