Sunday Star-Times

Bring on the scrum attack: Dermody

- LOGAN SAVORY

Highlander­s scrum coach Clarke Dermody is more than comfortabl­e with opposition teams continuing to target their scrum.

The defending champions advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 Super Rugby competitio­n with a far from polished 15-9 win over the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday night.

Dermody was not surprised it was the scrum where the Brumbies attempted to put them under the most pressure and he gave his team a pass mark despite some scary moments.

It included tight-head prop Josh Hohneck giving away two penalties in the space of four minutes in the first half for folding in at scrum time.

The former the collapsed All Black prop felt scrums were probably a result of ‘contrastin­g scrummagin­g styles’ rather than his pack battling to contain the allAustral­ian front row.

‘‘When that front row played against England the penalties went the other way. So a lot of scrum calls can go either way, it happens, ’’ Dermody said.

The biggest test came for the Highlander­s late in the game when they were camped on their own line and the Brumbies opted to set scrum after scrum to put the acid on the Highlander­s pack.

‘‘I was happy with how the guys dug in at the end,’’ he said.

‘‘We were planning for plenty of scrums. We knew in the wet [the Brumbies] would look at the scrum as a facet where they could attack us.’’

He expected the same come next week as well, whoever the opposition is.

‘‘Every game for the past couple of years teams have thought they can push us around, but our scrum has been good. I’m pleased with it.’’

Meanwhile, reserve tighthead prop Siosiua Halanukonu­ka is in doubt for the semifinal because of an ankle injury.

He replaced Hohneck at halftime but the Tongan internatio­nal lasted just 13 minutes when he was forced from the field and Hohneck returned.

‘‘Somehow he ended up in the position where he went up to catch a high ball and he went over on his ankle. We’ll just have to see how he is in the wash-up. It is a shame because he has been going really good for us,’’ Dermody said.

The Highlander­s flew from Canberra to Sydney yesterday where they await the next move.

The plan was to wait in Sydney I was happy with how the guys dug in at the end until they knew if they would be heading back to New Zealand for the semifinal or head straight from Sydney to South Africa.

It has been a mammoth travel schedule for the Highlander­s in the past month, with trips to South Africa, Argentina, and Australia.

Coach Jamie Joseph said the intense travel had one bonus.

‘‘We are a really tight team. When we travel the boys have a lot of fun. There is a real balance in between doing the business at training and enjoying each other, I know a lot of teams will say that but it is a definitely with us so the travel is not too much to endure.’’

What Friday night again highlighte­d was the Highlander­s are a much stronger force at home.

The wet and windy night proved to be a leveller and a game under the roof in Dunedin would have allowed the Highlander­s’ attacking threats to shine.

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham voiced his disappoint­ment following the game that they were not awarded a late try when winger Lausii Taliauli went close.

Referee Angus Gardner sent it upstairs and the TMO said there wasn’t enough evidence to award the try.

Following the game Joseph, and captain Ben Smith, both admitted their initial reaction was it was a try.

‘‘At first I thought he had got over the line, but with the footage, as the ref said, it was unclear. Thankfully for us,’’ Joseph said.

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