Highlanders rugby has been hit with a double injury blow a month out from the start of Super Rugby Pacific 2026.
Promising halfback Dylan Pledger has been ruled out of all rugby for the year following a training ground accident that resulted in a complete rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament. He will miss both the Super Rugby and Bunnings NPC seasons and faces surgery in the next month.
And emerging fullback Finn Hurley, who missed much of last year's Super Rugby Pacific season due to a quadriceps injury, has suffered a foot sprain that will keep him out of action for six to eight weeks at the start of the 2026 campaign.
Pledger's injury is frustrating after he made such an impression with New Zealand's Under-20 and Otago's NPC sides last year.
Pledger said that while the injury was disappointing, he will put his energy into rehabilitating his leg so he can return in 2027 in the best shape possible.
However, the Highlanders do have cover for him. All Black Folau Fakatava is still on the books, while Taranaki's Adam Lennox is also in this year's squad. Southland halfback Nic Shearer is in the Highlanders' wider training group.
While Hurley recovers from his injury, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens will share the fullback duties with newcomer Stanley Solomon, while utility back Andrew Knewstuff is another possibility for the role.