Hohneck has passed concussion protocols this week and will pack down in the front row against the Blues in Dunedin tonight after appearing to be knocked out in the Highlanders' victory over the Crusaders in Christchurch last weekend.
Players suspected of being knocked unconscious must be withdrawn from the field immediately, according to World Rugby protocols. Instead, medical staff failed to see the incident and Hohneck passed a concussion test and played on.
Joseph on Thursday told reporters that Hohneck must have been okay as he went pig hunting the day before, adding that he questioned the value of making television replays available to medical staff at Super Rugby matches.
"When there is a car crash, no one goes looking for the CCTVs," the Highlanders coach said. "You go and have a look at the ones sitting in the middle of the field and that is what our guys did."
New Zealand Rugby's general manager of rugby Neil Sorensen had no comment to make yesterday, despite two days earlier insisting his organisation was taking the concussion issue seriously by continuing with a trial to make footage available to the match doctor in the Hurricanes v Waratahs match in Wellington this afternoon.
It is one of the things New Zealand Rugby is looking at doing to help prevent what is becoming one of the most serious issues in the sport. The fear at the top level is not only the welfare of players but that the continuing instances of head injuries will put parents off letting their children play rugby.
Joseph's comments about CCTV undermine that trial, yet, bizarrely, Sorensen seems happy with it.
"It's really important for the players and game's sake that whatever footage we can get needs to be given really quickly to the right people," Sorensen told the New Zealand Herald this week.
"The match doctor on the sideline, who might be very busy assisting the team doctors with an injured player -- these guys and ladies need to have footage as soon as possible to make accurate decisions and determine if there has been a suspected concussion or a head knock for them to say that player should be off."
The Hohneck incident came at the end of a week in which Chiefs prop Ben Afeaki announced his retirement at the age of 27 due to concussion injuries, with Jerome Kaino, Sonny Bill Williams and Tony Woodcock high-profile recent sufferers.
Kaino and Williams were seriously dazed in their incidents, but played on after the collisions were missed by the doctors at the matches and passing concussion tests, only to suffer symptoms later.
- By Patrick McKendry of NZME. News Service