Highlanders time run to perfection
They still really shouldn’t be rewarded with a playoffs spot, but maybe the Highlanders are timing their run to perfection.
Just three weeks ago, Tony Brown’s mob were sitting with an ugly 1-8 win-loss record and facing the prospect of missing the playoffs in this inaugural Super Rugby Pacific competition.
Now, in the midst of an ugly travel schedule, the southerners have seemingly turned a sharp corner with three wins on the bounce to all but ensure eighth spot will be theirs.
Two thirds of teams making the finals is of course a crock, but the Landers didn’t write the rules and at this stage they appear to be channelling their underdog-best selves, so much so that Brown was heard on pre-match TV coverage ahead of their previous match against the Reds talking down his troops’ talent, noting they had no superstars in their ranks.
Halfbacks Aaron Smith and Folau Fakatava could have had reason to baulk at that, but they’ll know the game Brown is employing – the little old battler mentality, the one which served them so well on the way to what remains their only title, in 2015, when they beat higher qualifying sides on the road in the semifinal (Waratahs) and final (Hurricanes).
The Landers might not have just knocked over a trio of superpowers, but on a travel schedule that has gone DunedinMelbourne-Suva-BrisbaneDunedin, they ought to be pretty chuffed with their work of late.
Their latest 61-10 demolition of the Force on Friday night was the biggest victory in the franchise’s history, and they now look a serious chance of making their win streak five, finishing the regular season by hosting the Waratahs then travelling to the Rebels.
It then looks set to be a trip to Eden Park for the quarterfinal, and they will surely have shown enough to put some nerves amongst the high-flying Blues, who relied on a late converted try to seal their 23-15 win over the Landers in last year’s transTasman decider there.
Brumbies are beatable
After three wins on the trot against Kiwi sides, the secondplaced Brumbies yet again found the Crusaders to be their kryptonite.
Their 37-26 defeat in Canberra on Friday night was their 11th straight defeat to the red and blacks, dating back to 2009, and was also an important psychological dent for some other sides to see ahead of the playoffs.
Amatch which promised so much proved not to really even be close. The only caveat was the Canberrans were missing outstanding blindside flanker Rob Valetini and talented young pivot Noah Lolesio.
The Brumbies now host the Blues on Saturday night in another intriguing one.
Franks’ huge memo to Foster
Ahead of his debut for the Hurricanes last weekend following an Achilles injury, 108-test former All Blacks tighthead prop Owen Franks confirmed he still wanted to once again feature at the highest level.
And in the wake of the Canes’ 22-18 fight-back win over the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday night, the 34-year-old has certainly dished up some food for thought. ABs coach Ian Foster might want his front-rowers to be mobile with good hands, but they also need to be able to scrum.
In front of a packed crowd at Leichhardt Oval, Tahs loosehead Angus Bell was having a field day and the visitors’ scrum was being sent backwards at a rate of knots, copping a whopping four penalties (not counting advantages) from 11 pack-downs.
Canes coach Jason Holland virtually had no option and come the 34th minute came the remarkable sight of both starting props – Xavier Numia and Tyrel Lomax – being hooked.
Franks immediately sorted out Bell, and in conjunction with Tevita Mafileo and Dane Coles (who entered straight after halftime), the Canes’ scrum underwent the most remarkable of turnarounds, with them all of a sudden being the ones to win penalties out of referee Jordan Way.
Lomax, a 13-test All Black, looked rightly disgusted when summoned to the sideline, and could it just be that his new domestic team-mate has shown him up so markedly to jump ahead of him in the national No 3 queue?