Highlanders hoping bold move to Fiji is rewarded
Only time will tell whether or not the Highlanders live to regret moving tonight’s crunch New Zealand derby against the Chiefs to Fiji.
Given they’ve won their last 12 home games, 11 of them under the lid at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, it’s a valid question as Super Rugby resumes after the international break.
The 9-4 Highlanders still have a shot at nabbing a home quarterfinal and, by moving the match to Suva, they’ve relocated a ‘‘home’’ game to the same city their opponents generated a fan base after taking home games against the Crusaders there the past two years.
So instead of preparing to play the Chiefs under the roof, where they haven’t lost since the Crusaders tipped them up at the death last March, the Highlanders are some 3100km away in Suva, where rain is forecast on game day.
However, defence coach Glenn Delaney batted away suggestions the team had coughed up home-field advantage.
‘‘Well, it’s still a home game. It’s been in the diary from day one, it’s not new. It’s something we’re excited about. And it’s a great chance for a couple of guys in our team to reconnect with their people, in Waisake Naholo and Tevita Nabura, who are from there,’’ he said earlier in the week.
Head coach Aaron Mauger followed suit.
‘‘We have known since the start of the year we were playing the Chiefs in Suva, and to be a consistent team we have to be able to perform at any time, in any conditions, anywhere,’’ he said in a statement.
They’re right. The Highlanders have known about this game since January, when it was announced they wouldn’t play a 2018 regular season game at Invercargill’s Rugby Park.
The Fijian government agreed to a three-year arrangement to host Super Rugby matches in their country in 2016, with one match to be played each year, subject to annual approvals being obtained.
With the Chiefs only committing to play ‘‘home’’ games there the past two years, Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark pounced.
‘‘It definitely stacks up commercially, and it’s an opportunity to develop our brand in a different part of the world,’’ Clark said at the time.
Financial arrangements aren’t clear, but former Chiefs boss Andrew Flexman previously said the Hamilton-based team made more money from the games, which attracted crowds of about 20,000, than they would have at a sold out FMG Stadium.
The Highlanders received a warm welcome in Suva on Thursday evening, and the team held their captain’s run at Suva’s ANZ Stadium yesterday.
There’s plenty at stake tonight’s clash.
As long as the Hurricanes, who still have to play the Chiefs in Hamilton, drop points in the next three weeks, the Highlanders could unseat them and finish fourth overall, as long as they beat the Chiefs, Crusaders and Rebels in their final three games.
That’s a tall order, considering they have to play the reigning champions in Christchurch next Friday night, but the possibility is there. in