Caleb Tangitau — who many tipped to make his All Blacks debut this season — has been ruled out for up to nine months after rupturing his left Achilles in the dying minutes of his side’s 42-12 loss to the Chiefs on Friday.
‘‘He had an outstanding season and tough to get the injury that he got,’’ Smith said.
‘‘Obviously the team got around him and he’ll be doing things in his power to make sure the gets the recovery he needs to get back on track as soon as possible.
‘‘But just feel for him around the opportunities hopefully that were going forward for him. I’m sure they’ll come when he comes back after his recovery.’’
No8 Nikora Broughton also left the field early with a knee complaint. Smith said they would have a better gauge on him today.
Smith felt the Highlanders made a strong start against the Chiefs, where loose forward Lucas Casey — in his best Super Rugby game — scored a great try off the back of the scrum.
But their lack of discipline allowed the Chiefs easy access to the right areas of the field.
‘‘They’re a good team. We gave them opportunities to get into the game,’’ Smith said.
‘‘We actually had moments in the first half that we could have taken and then discipline let us down, which was unfortunate, and then in the second half, same again.
‘‘We just need to be better.’’
The Highlanders are preparing for what could be their last game of the season — they have the bye next week — against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.
They sit eighth, outside of the top six for the playoffs, and will need some other results to go their way.
The Hurricanes, who sit top of the table with 10 wins and two losses, thumped the Highlanders 50-7 in Dunedin in March and are coming in off a 47-24 against the Blues.
‘‘It’s going to be a challenge — the Hurricanes are always a challenge,’’ Smith said.
‘‘But we’ll make sure we get our preparation right, get our plans sorted and get excited about what we can do up there.
‘‘We prepare really well every week and ... with this opposition this week, we’ll need to do that really well.’’
