'It's a real setback': Commentator on Dylan Pledger's unfortunate injury

It’s not the news that Highlanders fans would have wanted to hear after the Christmas break, with young halfback Dylan Pledger out for the whole of Super Rugby Pacific in 2026, with a ruptured ACL knee injury.

The 20-year-old was a standout for Otago in the 2025 Bunnings NPC competition, after a successful campaign with the New Zealand U20’s at the U20 Rugby World Cup.

The New Zealand U20 vice-captain was left at home by both Scott Robertson and Jamie Joseph, to ensure he could get a full pre-season in ahead of Super Rugby Pacific in 2026.

But that didn’t go to plan, with Pledger sustaining a season-ending knee injury at training late last week for the Highlanders.

“Yeah, that would be my number one hope for this year, right now as we speak, that Dylan Pledger is able to make a full recovery from this and is able to fulfil the potential that we’ve seen in the young man,” Johnson said on the DSPN Podcast with Martin Devlin.

“Pledger obviously had a terrific year last year, when both New Zealand and South Africa at the World Under 20 Championship produced half-backs of astonishing quality, and Dylan Pledger, I think a lot of people felt should have gone away on one of those end-of-year tours.

“The message that we got was, look, there’s plenty of time. Joseph said, now, of course, he loses a year. But I mean, the bottom line has to be, he has to be given every opportunity to recover from this.”

The 66-year-old pundit adds that it’s a huge loss for the Highlanders as well, who have assembled a great roster in 2026 with Tomas Lavanini coming into the frame, as well as David Kidwell as the team’s new defence coach.

“It’s a ruptured ACL, that means surgery, and that could mean anything up to 12 months out of action. So you just got to hope his health is the most important thing that he can make a full recovery from this, regain all his mobility and hopefully regain his ability as a rugby player as well.

“But we just got to wish the guy well. It’s a real setback, not only for him, but also for the Highlanders team that really looked like they assembled a very or they have assembled a really good roster, and he was going to be a key part of that this year in Super Rugby.”