Hip injury clouds Squire’s cup hopes
Liam Squire’s hip complaint is beginning to look like it might be a problem for the All Blacks, not just the Highlanders.
Squire was again missing from the Highlanders’ 23 to face the Hurricanes in Wellington tomorrow and head coach Aaron Mauger has effectively ruled him out of the following week’s home fixture against the Crusaders.
‘‘I think he’ll be touch and go, to be fair, next week,’’ Mauger said yesterday.
‘‘We’ve got to get a bit of running into him, a bit of conditioning as well, we haven’t been able to do too much.
‘‘Firstly he’s got to be fit for purpose and also make sure he’s going out there and he’s safe to withstand the rigours of these big games.’’
Squire is yet to play in Super Rugby this year and the Highlanders have been wary about putting a deadline on his return.
If he misses the Crusaders game, as seems likely, he won’t see any action until the Blues game in Auckland on March 22 at the earliest.
However, with the Highlanders getting their first bye after that game they might be tempted to take an extra week with
Squire and target the return game against the
Hurricanes in round eight.
That approach would leave Squire with more time to get his hip right but truncate the window he could use to audition for the All Blacks.
‘‘It’s bit of a balancing act but our job is to make sure first and foremost that we serve the team but also look after the individual,’’ Mauger said.
‘‘That’s a pretty easy place to start and that’s a good guiding principle for us.’’