Interim Highlanders boss Clarke Dermody sets date on Josh Ioane's injury return
The Highlanders could welcome back star playmaker Josh Ioane from an ankle injury as early as next week when the Dunedin franchise take on the Western Force in Perth.
Speaking shortly after his side’s comprehensive 40-19 dismantling of the Queensland Reds in the opening match of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in Dunedin on Friday, interim Highlanders head coach Clarke Dermody revealed Ioane is in line for a return within the coming fortnight.
“He’s back running now. I think he’s got another session tomorrow, but all indications are he’s nearly there, so we’re hoping to be able to use him, if not next week, then definitely the week after,” Dermody, who is filling in for Tony Brown while he is on international duty with Japan, said.
Ioane hasn’t featured for the Highlanders since he sprained his ankle on the eve of his team’s heavy defeat to the Hurricanes in their final Super Rugby Aotearoa match two weeks ago.
Prior to that, the one-test All Black had been in top form for the Highlanders, playing starring roles in their matches against the Chiefs and Blues in the lead-up to his injury.
The 25-year-old’s shift to fullback allowed him to flourish with extra time and space available to him as gelled well with first-five Mitch Hunt in a dual playmaking partnership.
Hunt has also played well this season, and that continued at Forsyth Barr Stadium as he worked with halves partner and co-captain Aaron Smith to bombard the Reds with a series of well-executed tactical kicks.
Time and time again, Hunt and Smith forced the Super Rugby AU champions onto the back foot by kicking the ball in behind their defensive line and into open space.
Hunt admitted after the match it was a deliberate ploy designed to run the big Queensland forwards off their feet, something of which the Highlanders capitalised on through their quick, off-the-cuff attack.
“It’s tough to get the ball in behind and continually try and turn yourself around, especially in their group where they’ve got a lot of big boys,” the 25-year-old said.
“It’s going to be hard for them to keep going back, exit well, keep going back, exit well, and that takes its toll on a team, so that was a big part [of our game plan].”
Hunt also revealed the Highlanders placed a big emphasis on the defensive side of their game and spoke highly of his fellow backs, who he said stood up and dominated on the opposite side of the ball against the Reds.
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“Obviously our defence as well was huge tonight. We were pretty poor [during Super Rugby Aotearoa] and a big focus was our backs tonight.
“Some great shots tonight by Sio [Tomkinson], Scotty Gregory, our wingers getting up into those channels and really making a nuisance of ourselves and that paid dividends for us.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Smith, who said the victory was the perfect way to start Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
“It was a chance at redemption and a fresh start,” the 97-test All Blacks said.
“We had a great review last week around the Aotearoa comp, where we got things right and where we got things wrong, and we really tried to build a consistent week from our positive weeks of the Aotearoa comp and I think we got that tonight.
“We were full of energy, we were at home, and we had a great plan. The Reds still had their moments, but I felt like we controlled the game, really wanted to control the territory battle and run them around.
“We knew they might have had a big week celebrating [their Super Rugby AU title] and we didn’t want to show them any mercy and give them a chance. We just really wanted to make them work, make them earn everything they got.
“If you let them go set piece to set piece, they’re very dangerous, but I was really proud of their efforts tonight. A couple of guys got a shot and took their opportunities.”
Now sitting at the top of the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman table, the Highlanders will travel to Perth on Tuesday via Auckland and Sydney before they take on the Western Force at HBF Park next Friday.
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments