Fair way to go to reach benchmark set by 1999 Landers
It is nearing 25 years since one of the great Highlanders teams hosted the Super Rugby final (we will not mention the result.) While the 2024 mob are not one of the great Highlanders teams, it might still be an interesting exercise to compare players in their respective positions — mainly to illustrate how much work is needed for these Landers to get to the benchmark set by those Landers. Hayden Meikle does just that. HOOKER
1999 Landers: Anton Oliver started all 13 games for the team that qualified third, upset the Stormers in a semifinal in Cape Town, and lost to THAT team in the final at Carisbrook. Old ‘‘Hatchet Head’’ was in magnificent form and would go on to play 59 tests for the All Blacks.
2024 Landers: Three different hookers have started but Henry Bell is getting the most opportunities. Talented and physical, but lineout throwing needs work.
The edge: Clearly 1999, but we will not judge Bell too harshly in his first season.
PROPS
1999 Landers: Carl Hoeft and Kees Meeuws completed one of the great front rows. The perfect mix of graft and mobility, strength and stability. You just did not get better.
2024 Landers: Ethan de Groot and Saula Ma’u. Both young, and with plenty of development to come. There is a lot to like about this combination but it remains to be seen whether they can match the heights of their illustrious predecessors.
The edge: 1999, but the current pair would give them a good crack.
LOCKS
1999 Landers: John Blaikie and Brendon Timmins. Both played all 13 games. Did nobody get injured in 1999? Or rested? A fantastic pairing of yeoman locks who deserved higher honours. 2024 Landers: Fabian Holland and Mitch Dunshea. The latter has only just made his Highlanders debut, and the former is young, but this shapes as the team’s preferred second row. It is an impressive combination, too, packing plenty of grunt. Holland’s ceiling is particularly high.
The edge: Happy to call this one a tie.
FLANKERS
1999 Landers: Taine Randell and Josh Kronfeld. Swoon. The greatest 67 duo in Highlanders history, by some distance. Both were absolutely class acts.
2024 Landers: Sean Withy and Billy Harmon. Very good bordering on great. Both men are relentless, and while they potentially lack a little of the Xfactor of flankers past, they are managing to shine in an underwhelming Highlanders season. Harmon, in particular, is giving everything he has to make his team better.
The edge: Simply has to be 1999.
NO 8
1999 Landers: Big Isitolo Maka was in careerbest form and the perfect complement to the brilliant flankers.
2024 Landers: Hugh Renton’s injury is a devastating blow to the Highlanders. He is the best player in the squad and has taken his game to another level in the past two years.
The edge: Too close to call. Maka’s peak was extraordinary but Renton offers just as much.
HALFBACK
1999 Landers: Byron
Kelleher was yet another who started all 13 games that wonderful season. He has been unable to stay out of strife in recent years but in 1999 he was a halfback at the top of his game.
2024 Landers: Folau Fakatava can lack consistency but he is a wonderful talent and a rare spark in a misfiring Highlanders team.
The edge: 1999 — but Kelleher v Fakatava would have been a lot of fun.
FIRST FIVE
1999 Landers: Party at Tony Brown’s! Brown suffered occasionally as he was in the shadow of Andrew Mehrtens but he was a technically strong, calm presence in the No 10 jersey.
2024 Landers: Rhys Patchell had one average game, and is currently injured, but the former Welsh test player has been otherwise excellent in his first, and presumably only, year in Super Rugby.
The edge: Has to be 1999.
MIDFIELDERS
1999 Landers: Pita Alatini started all 13 games (another one!) while Jeremy Stanley and Romi Ropati shared the No 13 jersey. Alatini was good value and perfectly suited to late1990s rugby. Stanley was so talented but saw his career cut short by injury, while Ropati’s peak years were fun if brief. 2024 Landers: Sam Gilbert and Tanielu Tele’a. Not a bad combination. Gilbert has been Mr Consistent, while Tele’a has been been reasonably good in his first season after switching from the Blues.
The edge: Alatini probably seals it for 1999.
WINGERS
1999 Landers: Brendan Laney and Brian Lima, with a bit of Ropati thrown in. ‘‘Chainsaw’’ Laney was not only a crowd favourite but an excitement machine who relished the open spaces of this era, while Lima could run and hit hard.
2024 Landers: Jona Nareki and Timoci Tavatavanawai. At their best, this is a cracking combo offering plenty of power and pace. Shame Nareki is injured, and both have been suffering from being part of a misfiring backline.
The edge: I call it a tie. Give us Laney on one wing and Tavatavanawai on the other.
FULLBACK
1999 Landers: Goldie. The great one. Jeffrey William Wilson. Enough said.
2024 Landers: Jacob RatumaitavukiKneepkens started the season so well but has dropped off the pace a little since then. Still shapes as a magnificent signing for the Highlanders.
The edge: That would be 1999.
CONCLUSION
Obviously, this exercise was always going to end up with the 1999 team dominating.
They hosted the Super 12 final, while the 2024 Highlanders have won three from nine. You do the maths, as they say.
What will be interesting is making these same comparisons in a couple of years. The modern Highlanders might have closed the gap, especially in the front row, halfback, midfield and even first five.