MATCH REPORT
A DETERMINED defensive effort has helped the Highlanders to their first win of the season.
The side held off a strongfinishing Blues outfit to take home the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy with a 1612 win at Eden Park on Saturday night.
It was a result built on an effective kickandchase game and desperate defence.
Just one try was scored, by Malakai Fekitoa, in what was a messy game.
But that one try was enough and coach Tony Brown was happy the team found a way to get the job done.
‘‘Yeah, I think obviously we got hit pretty hard by injuries last night,’’ he said.
‘‘For our guys to hang on there at the end and get the win was very pleasing. It’s great to get on the board really with our first win.’’
Those injuries resulted in Waisake Naholo leaving the field early and Lima Sopoaga missing the final 15 minutes after making a trysaving tackle.
That left an already injuryravaged team light in the backs, but it did not make it any less effective.
Indeed, the tackle in which Sopoaga was injured was the key moment.
With the score at 139, he scrambled back to pull down a rampaging George Moala 2m from the line.
The Blues second fiveeighth had been put into a gap 40m out and looked set to go the whole way.
It was one of few tryscoring chances in the game, but the Highlanders scrambled to make the tackle, clean up the ball and clear.
Shortly afterwards, both sides traded penalties, before the Blues went close to scoring twice in the final two minutes.
In the first, they attacked up the left, but the cover forced a forward pass back inside.
Aaron Smith was then able to clear, but the Blues hit back with one final barrage on Highlanders’ line.
It did not get through, but the home side got another chance when Gareth Evans was yellowcarded for an infringement in the red zone. The Blues took a tap and some more desperate defence forced a knockon to end the game.
The Highlanders looked to kick everything in their own half, chasing strongly to apply pressure.
It was a tactic the Blues did not handle well. Notably the chasers were not contesting in the air.
‘‘We felt as though we wanted to be a bit longer with our kicks. So let them catch and then tackle and pressure that,’’ Brown said.
‘‘I felt as though our kickchase and our pressure game was right on the money last night. It probably won us the game.
‘‘We definitely wanted to target Ihaia West. They try and hide him at blind wing and fullback and he’s at the back a lot.
‘‘Obviously he’s not the tallest of men and we’ve got some pretty good kickchase athletes, so that was one of our plans.’’
The setpiece had been strong, with the scrum managing a tighthead early on and the lineout applying pressure on the Blues’ throw.
That, along with the kickchase, enabled the Highlanders to have the better of the first 20 minutes.
Sopoaga got the scoring under way 15 minutes in with a penalty goal, before Fekitoa crossed for the first try two minutes later.
The Blues cover let a kick ahead from Smith bounce, allowing Fekitoa to regather it.
He linked with Marty Banks on the inside, who passed back to Fekitoa, who went over in the right corner.
For all their dominance though, the Highlanders should have had more points.
Poor hands at key times proved costly, letting the Blues defence off the hook.
Two Blues penalties meant the score edged back to 106 at the break, before Sopoaga extended the lead to 139 heading into the final 15 minutes.
In other games, the Crusaders snatched a late 2220 win over the Reds in Brisbane, while the Brumbies beat the Force 2517.
In South Africa, the Stormers beat the Cheetahs 4110, the Cheetahs edged the Sunwolves 3831 and the Sharks ran out 3714 victors over the Waratahs. In Argentina, the Jaguares beat last year’s finalist the Lions 3624.