Riley Higgins poses for a photo with fans. Photo: Masanori Udagawa
The Hurricanes have lost midfielder Riley Higgins for the rest of the Super Rugby Pacific season, with the team revealing the midfielder played on a broken leg during last week's win over the Highlanders.
"He's actually broken his leg, we just found out last night," coach Clark Laidlaw said. "He managed to play 25 minutes with a leg injury that's going to put him out of the season.
"He's going to be joining Brayden [Iose] out of the team for the rest of the year."
Higgins has a lower leg fracture, while Iose was ruled out of the rest of the season on Wednesday with an ankle injury.
Riley Higgins has a lower leg fracture. Photo: Mark Evans/ActionPress
Both injuries are big blows to a Hurricanes seeking to secure a place in the playoffs with two rounds remaining. They face the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday and host Moana Pasifika next week.
Laidlaw said losing Higgins was a hit they do without.
"He was playing well," he said. "Tough start to the year with a broken hand or thumb.
"Tough for him and we need to get around him. He's in a moonboot for the next six weeks.
"It's disappointing for him and for us."
However, the coach is confident Peter Umaga-Jensen will fill the hole left in the Hurricanes backline.
"Peter had a really good start to the year and he's in form, so it's another opportunity for him to come back. It's been a tight selection [in the midfield] over the last couple of weeks and Peter brings different attributes, which we think compliments Billy [Proctor] in the midfield. so we're excited to see him get another crack."
While Higgins and Iose are out, loose forward Devan Flanders is back from a broken leg.
A win over the Reds this weekend would likely seal the Hurricanes place in the top six playoffs, but they have their eyes on a top-four finish.
"It's a real opportunity to try and put ourselves in fourth," Laidlaw said.
"With the way the competition works, if you get to a quarter-final in fourth versus third and you were to lose, and one and two seeds win, there's a lifeline there if it's needed, so we want to chase that as hard as we can.
"We certainly feel like we have been playing well. Since the Blues game, we've had a draw and won the rest of the games.
"We're far happier with the way we're playing, but playing the Reds in Brisbane, maybe they've lost one game here. It's a tough place to come, a lot of teams struggle up here."
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