Double blow for Highlanders with Naholo, Tanaka injured

While Tanaka injured his calf before the Highlanders' Super Rugby loss to the Blues, Naholo re-injured his leg in the 33-31 defeat on Friday.

Naholo missed last year's Rugby World Cup due to a cracked fibula and has sustained a new fracture to the same leg.

"While this is very unfortunate for Waisake, the positive news is that this injury is not as bad as his last fracture," Highlanders team doctor Greg Macleod said.

"He is already managing well and it’s expected his rehab will take 6-8 weeks."

Macleod said he expected Tanaka's recovery from a torn calf to take four weeks.

Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph, whose team face the Hurricanes on Saturday, urged his side to move on despite the absences.

"To lose players for an extended period is always disappointing but you have to expect injuries to occur at some point," he said.

"As a group we simply deal with it and move on, the focus for the players now will be to rehab well and work to make themselves available again."