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'It's unacceptable': Why Highlanders pair were axed from starting line-up
By Ben Smith
The Highlanders tenacious defensive effort in 2024 has been fuelled by the hard-working loose forward unit of Sean Withy, Billy Harmon, and Hugh Renton but head coach Clarke Dermody has revealed why he axed two of the trio.
Withy and Harmon, captain of the Highlanders, were named on the bench to face the Waratahs and Dermody confirmed it was disciplinary reasons for the move.
The head coach said the punishment for being late to a team meeting which was not part of the standards the team desires to adhere to.
"A couple of players this week were late for a team meeting," Highlanders coach Clarke Dermody said.
“Part of our standards this year is no matter who it is, it’s unacceptable and you lose your place in the team. So, someone else gets opportunity.
“Obviously, they want to compete but they understand the direction we want to take the team as well.
“It’s part of our standards we set out at the start of the year.
“It’s something that all the players know. In isolation, being late for a team meeting isn’t big, but the direction we want to take the team is that everything is really important.
“We want to make sure we turn up and show up to everything, and unfortunately there was a few boys that were a bit late.
“In isolation it’s probably not a big deal, but if you don’t stand for your standards then what do you stand for?”
All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot will skipper the side in Harmon's absence, while youngster Nikora Broughton will start at openside and Tom Sanders will start at No 6.
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Latest Comments
What’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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