It's too early in the season to talk about must-win games, but the match-up between last year's two finalists in Dunedin tomorrow is looming as a crucial encounter made more difficult for both teams following the withdrawal of their All Black strike weapons.
Hurricanes fullback Nehe Milner-Skudder was today ruled out of the match at Forsyth Barr Stadium due to a bruised leg suffered during his team's hammering at the hands of the Brumbies in Canberra, with Highlanders wing Waisake Naholo already sidelined due to a leg fractured during his team's loss against the Blues at Eden Park.
Both are key attackers, and while coach Chris Boyd will miss Milner-Skudder for probably only one match, Naholo is out for up to eight weeks after fracturing the same leg which left him under-done for the World Cup.
The Hurricanes, thrashed 52-10 by a very good Brumbies side, are likely to find the going extremely difficult against the defending champion Highlanders, who were pipped 33-31 by the Blues in round one, but much will depend on, one, how Jamie Joseph's men react to their defeat in Auckland, and, two, how they cope with expectation levels which have gone to a new level following their grand final victory last year.
It's one thing to fly under the radar every week - despite having such talented invididuals as Ben Smith, Aaron Smith, Malakai Fekitoa and Lima Sopoaga in your team - quite another when you are expected to win every match.
