Highlanders: We’re not dirty
Call the Highlanders anything you want but dirty.
Defence coach Glenn Delaney has shot down suggestions his team unfairly targeted Brumbies openside flanker David Pocock in a bid to negate his effectiveness at the breakdown on Saturday night.
Brumbies coach Dan McKellar fired the accusation after his team’s 43-17 pasting in Dunedin, and particularly took exception at an incident which involved reserve flanker Elliot Dixon.
Pocock was hurt after Dixon grasped him around the neck and, in an attempt to remove the 29-year-old from the breakdown, twisted him awkwardly.
McKellar was also unhappy with referee Ben O’Keeffe’s lack of action.
‘‘We’ve been talking about protecting players’ heads, there just seems to be [a case] now that a few things have gone out the window,’’ McKellar said.
‘‘That looked like a pretty nasty cleanout there so it’s important that we protect the players and I’m not sure if that was the case.’’
But Delaney, who encourages his mob to play hard-nosed and aggressive, rubbished the suggestions from across the ditch.
‘‘There was no targeting, it’s a game of football.
‘‘I don’t think we’ve isolated any player at all.
‘‘We were focussing on our cleanout, but there was nothing more than that at all. It’s pretty quick in there [breakdown]. Whatever happens can happen in a moment.’’
Highlanders loosehead prop Daniel Lienert-Brown also jumped to Dixon’s defence, saying his team-mate brought it up in the changing rooms after the game and ‘‘obviously didn’t mean to do it’’.
The Highlanders, minus their seven All Blacks who spent the day in Christchurch for a training camp with New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen, started preparing for the Blues on Monday.
Friday night’s match at Eden Park marks the fifth New Zealand derby of the season for the Highlanders, and is a rematch of the teams’ season opener, won 41-34 by Highlanders.
The Blues, coming off three consecutive losses, scraped past the winless Sunwolves in Tokyo last week, but their high-octane backline was mostly kept in check by the home side’s defence.
Kiwi Scott Hansen is in charge of the Japanese side’s defence, and his plan hadn’t gone unnoticed by fellow Cantabrian Delaney after watching the Blues win 24-10.
‘‘They did a good job, they’re a good side and well coached and they did put them under pressure,’’ Delaney said.
‘‘There’s some learnings we can take from not only that game, but the previous two or three they [Blues] played.
‘‘I thought defensively we were OK [against the Brumbies]. There’s a lot of challenges coming this week.
‘‘I think as we look forward to New Zealand teams, they have the ability to play through the second man and have their pivots out the back, that’s a big challenge for us. I’m sure we’ll be seeing that on Friday night from the Blues.’’
Having played four of their first six games under the comfort of the Forsyth Barr Stadium roof, the Highlanders will play five of their next six on the road, including their next three.
After Friday night’s match, they’ll head to South Africa to play the in-form Bulls in Pretoria and the Sharks, not to be underestimated after stomping the Blues and nearly stunning the Hurricanes, in Durban.