Hohaia ruled out for Kiwis

[DIEHARD]

New Zealand have suffered a devastating injury blow ahead of their Gillette Tri-Nations game against Great Britain after Lance Hohaia was ruled out.

The 22-year-old, who was earmarked to take over the scrum-half role from Stacey Jones, will return to New Zealand after tearing ligaments in his right ankle in the closing seconds of Sunday's 30-22 win against England.

The game was Hohaia's first since he injured his left ankle in the Kiwis' historic 38-28 win over Australia in Sydney last month.

The severity of the injury was initially played down by the Kiwis, who were desperately hoping he would be fit for Saturday's game in Huddersfield, but they have now conceded defeat.

"Lance has handled this setback well," said head coach Brian McClennan. "He played extremely well in Sunday's match and showed he had recovered very quickly after being injured in Sydney.

"He was outstanding on attack and defence and had really shown he was ready to step straight back into the test side. It's disappointing to lose such a quality player but Lance has a bright future in the Kiwis? jersey. He will be back."

The versatile Hohaia won his seventh cap as a hooker in Sydney but was set to take over the number seven jersey made vacant by the departure of Jones, who has linked up with engage Super League newcomers Les Catalans.

"It's extremely disappointing to have to leave the camp," said Hohaia. "But I have a lot of faith in my team-mates to do the job. The spirit in the camp is outstanding."

Hohaia's replacement in the Kiwis squad has not been confirmed but the injury could pave the way for a recall for Robbie Paul, who was not named in the Tri-Nations squad but was on the bench for the England game.

Source: http://www.SuperLeague.co.uk

[DIEHARD]

Things go from bad to worse for the Kiwis. This is especially disappointing as Hohaia had a stellar game against England on the weekend.

You can hear the cheers from England now.

Lockyer, Hindmarsh, Jones and Hohaia gone.

Robbie Paul for halfback now...

Some people sniff a come back by Jones...I don't. If he was going to come back for any game it would be the Tri Nations Final.

[DeeGan]

I do not think Lance Hohaia is a test quality rugby league player either way, so no big loss and I would expect Robbie Paul to come in to the test team at halfback.

Just on the GB fans, some I think are not really up to speed on the NRL when reading some of the comments at 'other' rugby league forums/sites.

One 'fan' claims "NZ are now favourites with the loss of Lockyer and Hindmarsh".

I was called arrogant to suggest we would still be proclaimed favourites and go on to win the Tri-Nations title given we had a guy by the name of Trent Barrett coming into the starting side who was better than any of the halves NZ or GB were going to offer.

As one wise man once said, "Don't hate the player, hate the game" GB fans

DeeGan

[Dakink]

MM I thinks the GB fans got a little carried away with their performance last year. Despite being flogged in the game that counted they thought they had caught our game. The NRL has improved whereas the english game seems to have remained static. I think the introduction of Catalans and a Welsh team in a couple of years time will aid the Englsih game no end.

The reduced amount of English teams will ensure more competitiveness for spots and hopefully an increase in quality. Its a bit like county cricket where they play so many games that they lose the value of their wicket.

[Ipswich Fan]

I think that unless Stacey Jones can play again then New Zealand are in trouble regardless of who takes his spot.