Highlanders Blow as Fakatava misses Western Force Game
The blows keep coming for the Highlanders ahead of a banana skin game against the Western Force tonight.
Halfback Folau Fakatava will miss the game through illness, after failing to make the trip to Australia on Tuesday.
Fakatava’s loss compounds the absence of Aaron Smith, the All Blacks No 9 who is on compassionate leave following the death of his father.
The Highlanders have taken young Otago halfbacks James Arscott and Nathan Hastie to Australia.
Arscott has two Highlanders appearances to his name, both off the bench, while Hastie is uncapped and is yet to even play for Otago in the NPC.
The Force are 11th on the ladder in Super Rugby Pacific but have won both of their home games, against the Rebels and Moana Pasifika, and No 10 Hamish Stewart told reporters on Tuesday they were “pretty confident” about beating the Highlanders.
However, the Highlanders will be bolstered by the return of key players such as Mitch Hunt, Freddie Burns and Josh Timu, and Hunt said they were viewing the twogame tour against the Force and the Waratahs as a chance to pick up two wins.
“I think we’ve built amazingly over the last three or four weeks,” Hunt said.
“Obviously, the finish to the Canes game wasn’t so ideal, considering where we sat at halftime, we still had some amazing stats out of that game, which will look to continue heading forward.
“It’s just an awesome opportunity to try and get two wins under the belt.
“We’ve played the Force already and beaten them, but we understand the threat that they still pose.
“...if we can go in and push them again it’ll be fantastic. If we can come home with two wins, that just bodes really well for us.”
Hastie was among a group of five young players initially signed by the Highlanders last year for the 2024 season, joining Jake Te Hiwi, Cam Millar, Oliver Haig and Hayden Michaels.
Millar was subsequently fasttracked into the 2023 squad, while the Highlanders’ injury woes have cut so deep that Te Hiwi and Haig have already been used this season. This is a modal window.
Hastie’s debut this weekend will give therefore fans in the Deep South another glimpse of the future. A product of King’s High School in Dunedin, Hastie has a strong running game and in a preseason appearance against the Crusaders appeared more than willing to look for holes around the ruck.
Hunt said the Highlanders had long since stopped worrying about their injury list and the message had gone out to anyone in and around the squad: be ready.
“I guess initially, it’s not frustrating but you sort of worry because you’ve got to try and get guys up to speed, but because we’ve had it so much now it almost just feels like it is what it is,” Hunt said.
“The message ... that we put out was that even the guys that have been left back home, they’ve got to make sure they’re ready.
“That’s been the message over the last month-and-a half, two months – you may be needed at any stage. We’ve got the trust in the guys that when they come in, they’re ready to go.”
It’s likely that Smith and Fakatava will join the Highlanders in Sydney ahead of their Round 10 clash against the Waratahs.