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Highlanders head coach Aaron Mauger on bereavement leave
By Online Editors
The Highlanders will be without head coach Aaron Mauger for another week.
Assistant coach Mark Hammett told Stuff the former All Blacks midfielder has been in Christchurch with his mother, who passed away during the Highlanders' 18-15 win against the Reds on Saturday night.
Hammett confirmed that Mauger wouldn't take part in preparations as his side get ready to host the Hurricanes on Friday night, but was hopeful he would be at the match.
"We imagine that the funeral will be Wednesday or Thursday. He would like to be back with us for the game, but we're putting no pressure on him. It's just about him doing what he needs to do and being with family."
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Hammett has been acting as head coach in the interim, overseeing the Highlanders for their win against the Reds - their first at Suncorp Stadium and their first in Brisbane since 2005.
The Highlanders will be without seven of their All Blacks when they take on Hammett's former team in a New Zealand conference clash. Hammett coached the Hurricanes from 2011 to 2014.
Ben Smith, Aaron Smith, Shannon Frizell, Liam Squire, Luke Whitelock, Waisake Naholo and Liam Coltman will all be attending a three-day All Blacks camp in Christchurch as preparations for next month's three-test series against France continue.
Hammett labelled last week "hugely disruptive" following the All Blacks camp in Auckland, mandated All Black rest periods and the absence of Mauger.
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Yeah it what respects? I wasn’t impressed with his start the the season either, but at least on his return he used his running game a couple of times, so some of his negative aspects balanced out, were at the start it was pretty much all wrong moves no right moves.
Go to commentsGP Ennor debuted for the ABs several years ago and has never really impressed. The same for Crusaders, has been fine without really standing out. Hes somewhat injury prone which is a real shame as he had a lot of potential but sadly has never kicked on.
Havili is a very good super player but we’ve seen more than enough of him at test level to see that he’ll never be special at that level.
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