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Hurricanes hit with injury blow as new playmaker ruled out for season
By Sam Smith
New Hurricanes first-five Simon Hickey's return to Super Rugby is over before it even started, with the 27-year-old playmaker ruled out of action for the season.
Hickey signed with the Hurricanes for the 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign, taking the place of the unwanted Fletcher Smith.
But, his Super Rugby comeback following a five-season stint in Europe with Bordeaux and Edinburgh has been thwarted after he ruptured his ACL.
The Auckland playmaker, who marked his return to New Zealand rugby in last year's Mitre 10 Cup, took to his private Instagram profile to confirm the injury news on Tuesday.
“Pre season started with high hopes and ended with a ruptured ACL. Gutted I won’t get the opportunity to wear this jersey this season. Going to be a tough year but I’ll be back,” Hickey wrote.
The injury leaves experienced pivot Jackson Garden-Bachop as the only specialist No. 10 in the Hurricanes squad a week-and-a-half out from the kick-off of Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Garden-Bachop started against the Blues in the game-of-three-halves in Upper Hutt on Saturday, with former Blues, Chiefs and New Zealand U20 five-eighth Orbyn Leger starting against the Chiefs.
That could mean Leger is in line for a full contract with the Wellington franchise, a deal that would make the Hurricanes his third Super Rugby franchise in four seasons.
Other options include star utility back Jordie Barrett, who played at first-five for the All Blacks against Namibia at the 2019 World Cup, and teenage rookie Ruben Love, who scored a try and two conversions against the Chiefs from fullback on Satuday.
Hickey becomes the latest injury concern for Super Rugby franchises throughout the pre-season period.
In New Zealand, the Blues have lost wing Jone Macilai-Tori for the season through a fractured arm, while the Highlanders are without new recruit Jermaine Ainsley for the year due to a high ankle sprain.
The three-test Wallabies prop joins Pari Pari Parkinson (ankle) and Sam Gilbert (knee) as the franchise's long-term injury concerns, while loosehead prop Ayden Johnstone is still recovering from a concussion sustained ahead of the North vs South game.
At the Crusaders, one-test midfielder Braydon Ennor is also expected to be gone for the season because of the ACL he ruptured in that same game, and All Blacks wing George Bridge isn't expected to return from a long-standing chest injury until after three-to-four weeks of action.
The reigning champion's Irish prop Oli Jager, meanwhile, left last week's pre-season clash with the Highlanders with a potentially serious ankle injury.
Across the ditch in Australia, notable players to have picked up serious injuries include Wallabies wing Tom Wright (knee) and Reds captain Liam Wright (foot), both of whom will miss large chunks of Super Rugby AU.
The Hurricanes will face the Highlanders in their final pre-season clash in Alexandra on Friday, before opening their Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign against the Blues in Wellington next Saturday.
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Latest Comments
Does anyone know a way to loook at how many mins each player has played whilst on tour?
Go to commentsIt certainly needs to be cherished. Despite Nick (and you) highlighting their usefulness for teams like Australia (and obviously those in France they find form with) I (mention it general in those articles) say that I fear the game is just not setup in Aus and NZ to appreciate nor maximise their strengths. The French game should continue to be the destination of the biggest and most gifted athletes but it might improve elsewhere too.
I just have an idea it needs a whole team focus to make work. I also have an idea what the opposite applies with players in general. I feel like French backs and halves can be very small and quick, were as here everyone is made to fit in a model physique. Louis was some 10 and 20 kg smaller that his opposition and we just do not have that time of player in our game anymore. I'm dying out for a fast wing to appear on the All Blacks radar.
But I, and my thoughts on body size in particular, could be part of the same indoctrination that goes on with player physiques by the establishment in my parts (country).
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