Rugby: Highlanders' job gets harder after pair dropped

Adam Thomson
Adam Thomson
The dropping of Adam Thomson and Michael Hobbs from this week's Super 14 match has just made a hard job even harder, Highlanders chief executive Richard Reid says.

The Highlanders will face the table-topping Bulls in Pretoria minus both Thomson and Hobbs as the pair were not considered for selection after missing a team curfew last weekend.

Hobbs and Thomson were not back in the team hotel on time after last weekend's match against the Stormers in Cape Town.

Michael Hobbs. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
Michael Hobbs. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
Highlanders coach Glenn Moore said in a statement while it was a critical decision which impacted on the team, it was in the end a straightforward decision to make.

Players had to earn the right to play for the team and "this slip-up, albeit out of character for these two guys, means they don't get the opportunity to play this week".

The duo would stay with the team in Pretoria and would not be returning home early.

Mr Reid said it was disappointing. He declined to say how late the two were.

"It was team protocol that was agreed to the management and the team. This wasn't something that was singularly imposed on the team by the management. This was agreed to with the team."

It did not matter that Thomson was an All Black and Hobbs had been a standout player this season, Mr Reid said.

"They should not be doing it. It does not matter who it is. These sort of things seem to happen too often for my liking.

"We've got a very hard game this week against the Bulls, without Jimmy [captain Jimmy Cowan], and now we've lost Adam, who has been one of the best loose forwards in the competition, while Michael has been one of the form players.

"That just makes a hard job against the Bulls even harder."

The pair would face no further penalty, Mr Reid said.

The Highlanders' game against the Bulls starts in Pretoria at 4.05am on Sunday (NZ time).

 

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