Taranaki co-captain replaced
Co-captain Leighton Price’s immediate playing future remains uncertain after Taranaki drafted in veteran Samoa international Kane Thompson as injury cover for the remainder of the national provincial rugby competition.
Price, who was to share the leadership duties with Charlie Ngatai, was replaced in Taranaki’s first Mitre 10 Cup match against Waikato and has yet to make it back onto the field.
Initially Taranaki reported he had suffered a slight calf injury but that has now changed to an ongoing back problem, an issue that requires Price to see a specialist.
Taranaki’s depth at lock and blindside flanker has already been questioned this season.
After the loss of 2016 captain Mitchell Crosswell and Chiefs utility Mitchell Brown through injury, Taranaki recruited Brad Tucker from Waikato but his impact has probably not been as great as had hoped.
Now with Price facing an uncertain future, Taranaki had to look outside the square as to who was still available at this time of the season, especially someone who could provide some improvement to the scrum where they looked extremely vulnerable against Counties Manukau last Saturday. Enter Thompson. Now 35, Thompson has a stack of experience having played for Wellington, Southland, the Highlanders, Hawke’s Bay, the Chiefs and Manawatu in New Zealand while he has also had plenty of stints overseas, including with Dax in France, the Canon Eagles in Japan and Newcastle in England.
His international career spans a decade and includes 33 tests.
He has stayed in the game in 2017 as player-coach for Johnsonville in the Wellington premier competition.
‘‘Kane’s played a lot of rugby and his knowledge, experience and ability to play lock or loose forward will be a great asset to the squad,’’ Taranaki coach Colin Cooper said.
‘‘We don’t yet know the extent of the injury [to Price] or how long he will be out for, but we decided we needed to move quickly and have like-for-like experienced cover, and luckily Kane was available.’’
Taranaki wasted no time in trying to bring Thompson up to speed and he trained with the squad on Monday with Cooper confirming he would be available for their next Mitre 10 Cup match against Auckland at Eden Park on Saturday.