Blow for Kiwis as injury ends Hohaia's tour
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Your support makes all the difference.Lance Hohaia, who was due to step in at scrum-half for Stacey Jones against Great Britain at Huddersfield this Saturday, is to return home with damaged ankle ligaments.
He suffered the injury scoring a try in the last minute of last Sunday's game against England, in which he appeared to prove that he had recovered from a similar injury to his other ankle.
"He played extremely well and showed that he had recovered very quickly after being injured in Sydney," said the Kiwi coach, Brian McClennan.
"He was outstanding on attack and defence and showed he was ready to step back into the Test side."
Hohaia said that he was "extremely disappointed to have to leave the camp, but I have a lot of faith in my team-mates to do the job".
The Kiwis did not rule out trying to bring back Jones from France, where he has linked up with his new club, Les Catalans. Alternatively, there could be a Test recall for Robbie Paul.
Australia have gone to Hawaii for a replacement for their captain, Darren Lockyer, who will play no further part in the Tri-Nations after breaking a bone in his foot in training in Paris.
The Sydney Roosters' utility player, Craig Wing, was on holiday there, but is now on his way to France. He can cover hooker and both half-back positions, already has 12 caps and was a surprise omission from the original party. The Newcastle hooker, Danny Buderus, will take over the captaincy, but Lockyer is expected to stay on with the Kangaroos for the rest of the tournament.
The other injured Australian, the Parramatta second-row, Nathan Hindmarsh, is going home for treatment on the knee injury that he aggravated at the same, ill-fated training session.
Castleford have appointed Terry Matterson as the coach to lead them back into Super League next season.
The former London Broncos captain will arrive from Australia - where he has been working as assistant to the ex-Bradford coach, Matthew Elliott, at Canberra - within the next two weeks.
"I'm making immediate plans to travel to the UK and I can't wait to get started," said Matterson, whose British connections enabled him to play for Scotland when he was last here. Matterson was appointed from a shortlist of three to replace Dave Woods, who was not retained despite winning the National League One title.
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