Highlanders, Ioane impress in Brisbane
The Highlanders or Crusaders look decent bets to win the lottery that is the inaugural Brisbane Global Tens after day one in Brisbane yesterday.
The southerners, together with Japan’s Robbie Deans-coached Panasonic Wild Knights, who proved the surprise package, finished day one as the only unbeaten teams. And rightfully so.
Surviving extreme heat was priority No 1, but for all the pretournament controversy the Tens actually produced a decent product.
It would be even better the All Blacks absence.
From a New Zealand perspective, all the attention prior to kickoff centred on the lack of All Blacks.
The majority of Steve Hansen’s men were blocked from partaking due to the 12-week conditioning window agreed with the Players’ Association.
That lack of star power translated to some early struggles for the five Kiwi teams but the depth of New but for Zealand rugby eventually shone through, and could well lead to a champion from this side of the ditch.
Temperatures soared towards 38 degrees early in the day - conditions not conducive for sustained periods of high intensity attack. But there sure were magic moments.
Nehe Milner-Skudder’s step was back. Cory Jane nabbed an intercept. And Digby Ioane hinted there is plenty legs.
The crowd, best described as an average turnout, clambered for the Suncorp Stadium shade. The sunny side of the ground resembled the of life left in his 31-yearold empty yellow seats at the Wellington sevens. Not a good look for year one.
In that heat, spare a thought for those chasing the leather ball. Hands on hips were widely evident with several players out on their feet. Wet towels and fans proved popular on the sideline; rolling substitutions were essential, and created havoc with teams frequently struggling to get the right number of players on the field.
Without doing anything overly flash the Highlanders took care of the Brumbies and Hurricanes, tournament favourites. Marty Banks’ kicking game, and the use of flankers as props produced tactical wins. Dogged flanker James Lentjes was in everything good for the Highlanders.
Ioane made an immediate impression with his first touch for the Crusaders, beating four defenders on a 50 metre run to the line, as the red and blacks ran up the biggest winning margin with their 28-0 victory over home town
Continued on pB3