Highlanders discovered joy for life during Covid-19 lockdown

We always knew it was in this group, it was just a matter of extracting that out of them.

Aaron Mauger Highlanders head coach

Few people expected the Highlanders to enjoy much success in Super Rugby Aotearoa.

Given the way they had performed in the opening rounds of the original iteration of Super Rugby back in February and March, there was little evidence to suggest they could stand as genuine threats in the daunting all-Kiwi competition.

Filled with a squad that was void of much experience and had lost a multitude of key figures from last year’s campaign, their last result prior to Super Rugby Aotearoa kicking off was a 38-13 drubbing at the hands of the Bulls in Pretoria.

Returning to camp from lockdown in peak physical condition led to an improved effort by the team’s forward pack, who worked in tandem with each other to provide their backline with much cleaner, front-foot ball than they did six months ago.

That handed the likes of Aaron Smith, Mitch Hunt and Josh Ioane a much better platform to attack from, and the reward of that was an often-scintillating brand of rugby.

Saturday’s 38-21 victory over the much-fancied Hurricanes was arguably the best display of rugby the Highlanders had shown all year.

The win in front of an empty Forsyth Barr Stadium was coupled with two last-gasp victories over the Chiefs well before New Zealand reentered alert levels 2 and 3, while there were a raft of close losses and a strong effort in a 10-point loss to the champion Crusaders.

Maybe if Sio Tomkinson hadn’t been sin binned as the clock ticked into the final quarter of that Crusaders defeat, the Highlanders could have withstood the infamous final 20-minute surge.

However, the fact the Highlanders even won three matches and came within touching distance of further successes, all while playing vastlyimproved footy, is indicative of the transformation they underwent during Super Rugby’s three-month lockdown.

“We have proved a lot of people wrong,” Highlanders head coach Aaron Mauger said after his side’s win over the Hurricanes on Saturday. “But we always knew it was in this group, it was just a matter of extracting that out of them and everyone’s played a massive part in that.

“Right from the top down, the support we’ve got around our boys and our coaching group has been outstanding.

“When you get that part of the equation right, people want to follow, and I think our younger guys have seen the example, and they’ve followed really well.”

The former All Blacks midfielder, whose three-year contract is now up, added that he believed the lockdown period instilled his playing group with a greater appreciation for both their roles as professional rugby players and life in general.

“The boys turned up, we were fitter, we were running PBs and that created energy on the first day. It was just a different buzz,” Mauger said.

“I think a big part of that is just what the isolation period and what Covid taught us, to be grateful and make the most of every day, and I think our boys genuinely acknowledge that and understand how lucky they are to be in this environment.”