Highlanders winger Caleb Tangitau was carted from the field in tears in the closing seconds of the 42-12 loss to the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato on Friday night, with a non-contact lower leg injury that coach Jamie Joseph fears could end the 23 year old’s season and derail his All Blacks ambitions just as Dave Rennie prepares to name his first squad.
Tangitau went down at 80 minutes and 34 seconds, well after the final siren, on what was already a defeat that left the Highlanders sweating on other results to keep their playoff hopes alive. He had taken the ball on his fourteenth carry of the night, attempted a left foot goose step in midfield, and collapsed before he reached the Chiefs defensive line. Slow motion replays showed the moment pain crossed his face, the ball spilling from his grip as his right leg gave way beneath him. He stayed on the turf, pounding the ground in frustration, and was eventually loaded onto a medic cart and driven from the paddock to subdued applause from the Hamilton crowd.
Joseph, fronting media after the match, was guarded but visibly worried. “I think he’s had a bit of a serious injury so we’ll get around Tangi,” the Highlanders coach said, with initial sideline assessments raising the possibility of a ruptured Achilles tendon. Other early reports from the ground pointed to a knee. Scans on Saturday will determine which, but either diagnosis would cost Tangitau the rest of the Super Rugby Pacific season and almost certainly rule him out of the All Blacks selection window for the July test window against Fiji and the opening Rugby Championship rounds.
The timing is brutal. Tangitau had become one of the genuine breakout stars of the 2026 competition, a powerful left winger with a side step that has drawn comparisons to a young Julian Savea and the footwork to beat defenders one on one in tight space. He had been firmly in the conversation for an All Blacks debut, with Rennie’s wider squad of around 60 names known to include the Highlanders flyer. Selector Sir Graham Henry was in attendance at FMG Stadium Waikato on Friday, sitting alongside Rennie in the coaches box for a match that doubled as a final audition for several fringe candidates.
For Tangitau, the injury follows a wretched run of luck. A groin tear ended his 2025 Super Rugby campaign early, and he had only returned to full match fitness in the opening rounds of this season. His form since then has been the standout reason the Highlanders, who were thumped by 30 points on Friday, were even in the playoff picture at all. He scored seven tries in his first 11 matches of the season and was rated the most dangerous attacking winger in the competition on metres made and defenders beaten per carry until the Chiefs game.
The Highlanders had already lost loose forward Nikora Broughton to a suspected knee injury just 11 minutes into the match, and the bigger picture for Joseph’s side is now grim. They sit ninth on the table heading into the final round and need a combination of wins and losses elsewhere to keep their season alive. Their late season collapse, which has seen them ship more than 35 points in three of their past four matches, will make Tangitau’s enforced absence all the harder to absorb.
The Chiefs had their own injury concerns. Fullback Damian McKenzie was knocked unconscious late in the second half when Highlanders flanker Lucas Casey’s boot caught him on the chin during a clearing kick. McKenzie walked from the field with a heavy nosebleed and will sit through a return to play protocol that almost certainly rules him out of next week’s regular season finale. Coach Clayton McMillan, whose side notched a 250th Super Rugby win and clinched a home quarter final with the result, will hope McKenzie passes head injury assessments in time for the playoffs.
The night did at least produce one piece of unambiguous good news. Highlanders number eight Lucas Casey, a 23 year old making his Super Rugby debut, was the standout performer on the field, leading all players with 22 carries, 117 metres, nine defenders beaten and 18 tackles. He also opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute, dragging Chiefs halfback Josh Jacomb over the line from a scrum.
None of which will offer much comfort to Tangitau, who left the stadium on crutches with his right leg in a moonboot. The medical news is expected later today. New Zealand rugby fans, and a selection panel that had cleared a spot in the squad for a player widely seen as a future All Black, will be hoping the scans deliver something better than the worst case scenarios doing the rounds in Hamilton last night.
What do you make of Tangitau’s injury and the Highlanders’ season unravelling at the worst possible moment? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job π
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