Hunt must wrangle Bulls to turn season around
Mitch Hunt will make his 50th appearance in Super Rugby when he runs out in the Highlanders No 10 jersey against the Bulls in Pretoria and one rule of rugby has not changed since his debut for the Crusaders in 2016.
If a team is not going well, sooner or later the critics will draw a bullseye over the No 10 and prepare their slings and arrows.
In fact, the Highlanders arrived in South Africa to the news that the Bulls had relegated former Springbok Morne Steyn to the bench after their winless start to the season.
There is no indication that the Highlanders are going to do the same with Hunt but sooner or later even patient investors want to see a return on their investment.
‘‘I feel like we’ve been creating a lot of opportunities but haven’t been able to nail those,’’ head coach Aaron Mauger told Stuff from South Africa about his side’s overall performance.
‘‘That’s been the focus . . . highlighting the opportunities that we’ve created but also highlighting what needs to be done to take those opportunities.
‘‘We’ve got to make it click this week.’’
There have been bits and pieces of good stuff from both Hunt at No 10 and Josh Ioane at No 12.
The picture is also made more complex by other areas of the Highlanders’ game: the lineout struggled badly last week and by conservative estimates they have butchered as many as five tries this season.
Nonetheless, the Hunt-Ioane axis has not been perfect and they were outpointed by the Rebels’ Matt To’omua and Billy Meakes last week.
That has to change if they want to win against the Bulls, who have a young and relatively untested No 10 in Manie Libbok and are also missing their hard-running captain and No 12 Burger Odendaal.
But Mauger is still expecting a tricky opponent.
‘‘They’re always a tough team to play against at Loftus,’’ he said.
‘‘I see a few ex-coaches and highly regarded rugby personnel have been sticking the boot into them this week so that’s going to give them a bit of extra motivation.
‘‘It won’t be easy but the focus has been on us and really nailing our game.’’
The back row is one area where the Highlanders can point to and identify genuine growth.
Teariki Ben-Nicholas is getting used to the massive step up from the Mitre 10 Cup, while 22-year-old No 8 Marino Mikaele-Tu’u is really starting to hit his straps in his third year with the Highlanders.
‘‘We’re really happy with
Marino,’’ Mauger said. ‘‘He’s had a lot of feedback and a bit of pressure has been applied to his game.
‘‘He’s responded really well. Now he’s going out there and really trusting his game and he’s getting better every week.
‘‘He’s a big, strong, powerful guy. Now that he’s learning to use it we’re applying a bit more technical detail to it so he can be a bit more accurate.’’
Accuracy is a good word for all of the Highlanders this week. There is still a good side lurking inside the mistake-riddled outfit that has been on display for the past month.
Now, it’s up to the Hunt and the other key decision-makers to unlock it.