Super Rugby
Highlanders lose cult hero Joe Wheeler for season
ESPN Staff
April 29, 2015
The Highlanders' Fumiaki Tanaka gate-crashes an interview, Dunedin, April 16, 2015
Joe Wheeler recently caused merriment in an interview that went viral © The Crowd Goes Wild
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Joe Wheeler will miss the remainder of the Super Rugby season with a knee injury, dealing a major blow to the Highlanders and their finals ambitions.

The second-rower, who recently signed a one-year contract extension for 2016, sustained a knee injury during the loss to the Brumbies last Friday and subsequent scans showed he had ruptured ligaments.

"He's a big part of the team, a big part of the pack - obviously does our lineouts, he's a big loss for us," Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said. "I feel for the player because he puts a lot into the Highlanders. Off the field he's running TV shows and playing games and on the field he's been doing the business."

Tom Franklin and Mark Reddish will be expected to replace Wheeler, but Joseph said "the experience of Wheels is going to be sorely missed".

Wheeler recently gained high-profile exposure when he featured with Fumiaki Tanaka, on The Crowd Goes Wild, in one of the most bizarre television interviews seen in some time.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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