The Highlanders ended their Super Rugby Pacific season with a 45-28 loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington tonight. They were much better than they were in the 50-7 humiliation at the hands of the Hurricanes earlier this year, and they showed plenty of fight after slumping to a 21-0 deficit inside the first quarter. Rising star Lucas Casey continued to enhance his reputation with one try scored and one disallowed, the Highlanders’ scrum was thoroughly dominant, and halfback Adam Lennox had a delightful cameo off
the bench. Still, this result means the Highlanders bow out with a record of five wins and nine losses, and could finish as low as 10th. Hardly reason to get too excited. Recent weeks have highlighted the need for the Highlanders to be smarter, to find another forward or two with real go-ahead ability, and to develop – or find – more playmakers with real pizzazz and precision. There is much work to be done in the offseason. The Highlanders made a bold switch just
before the game when they switched out their entire front row. There was little time to analyse the rights and wrongs of that call as the table-topping Hurricanes scored after just 104 seconds. A worrying amount of space opened up for fullback Josh Moorby to score in his 50th game. Just a few minutes later, that front row decision was up for discussion when veteran prop Daniel Lienert-Brown got in strife. He got low-ish but front on to charging flanker Devan Flanders and made head
contact. Lienert-Brown was yellow-carded and soon learnt his sanction would be a red, leaving the Highlanders playing with 14 men for 20 minutes. The Hurricanes made the most of it. A quick tap was followed by a shift left and a simple overlap try to Kini Naholo. Moorby then set up a third Hurricanes try with embarrassing ease when he shrugged off half a dozen defenders and fed Du’Plessis Kirifi for a try. Fifteen minutes gone, 21-0 to the rampant home team – how very
grim things looked for the Highlanders. But what a funny game is this rugby. The Hurricanes sort of switched off (hard to blame them, of course), the Highlanders perked up, and the rest of the first half was an actual competition. Obviously, the Highlanders needed to score before too long if they were to have a glimmer of hope, and that hope was provided by Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens. The fullback pounced on a Hurricanes turnover, toed the ball ahead with just the right amount of power,
and showed his pace to beat the defence to the line. Ruben Love fired back quickly for the Hurricanes to restore the 21-point lead. But the Highlanders were pleasingly reluctant to wave the white flag, and from a 5m scrum right on halftime, Timoci Tavatavanawai ran straight and true to score the try. That at least gave the visitors a perk-up as they headed to the sheds. The Highlanders got a boost when Hurricanes winger Ngane Punivai was binned for taking out the lifter from
the kickoff, but they quickly wasted their one-man advantage when young winger Xavier Tito-Harris saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on. Naholo grabbed his second try, shrugging off Highlanders defender Jack Taylor. Again, the Highlanders responded. After the TMO had robbed Casey of a try from the back of a dominant scrum – it looked like he had lost control, to be fair – Lennox took a quick tap close to the line and dived over. What the Highlanders needed was to score twice or thrice
in succession, but what did they do next? They let the Hurricanes score again, through Brayden Iose. And again, through departing halfback Ereatara Enari. After Hurricanes prop Pouri Rakete-Stones became the fourth player in the game to be sent to the bin, Casey at least got his try. The Highlanders’ wafer-thin playoff hopes had been extinguished before the opening whistle when the Reds pipped Moana Pasifika 33-31. That was the last slice of action for a Moana Pasifika club that is set to fold. Hurricanes
45 (Kini Naholo 2, Josh Moorby, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Ruben Love, Brayden Iose, Ereatara Anari tries; Love 5 con), Highlanders 28 (Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Adam Lennox, Lucas Casey tries; Cameron Millar 4 con). Halftime: Hurricanes 28-14.
Highlanders, Hurricanes, Super Rugby Pacific, Lucas Casey, Adam Lennox, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Josh Moorby, Kini Naholo, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens