Moment of truth — Highlanders must step up
HERE is a simple message for the Highlanders tonight.
Prove it.
Prove you are genuinely making good progress again and have renewed confidence after backtoback wins.
Prove you are actually decent enough to be in the playoffs and not merely the least poor of the stragglers in the competition. Prove you can play some good rugby, and prove the shocking display of skills in the Force game two weeks ago was an aberration.
Prove the Crusaders’ long reign of terror over Super Rugby is finished — for good, ideally. Most of all, prove you can take your game to another level in front of the biggest crowd of the season and send the redandblack invaders packing with tails between their legs.
It would obviously be completely misguided to suggest the Crusaders are ripe for the taking.
They have admittedly been dreadful this season but this is still a team packed with class and All Blacks experience, and the Highlanders are still very much a work in progress.
Would be nice, though, eh? An oldfashioned thumping of big brother? Could there be anything more satisfying?
This will certainly be the best litmus test of exactly where this Highlanders project has reached.
They showed ticker in the onepoint win over the Force, and played genuinely well last week against Moana Pasifika in Tonga.
But this is the sort of game they really need to win if they are to be taken seriously.
‘‘At this stage of the season, and where we are, it’s an important game to win, but it’s also about playing well,’’ Highlanders coach Clarke Dermody said this week.
‘‘We got the wobbles in the middle of the season and we’re working our way out of that, so this is another test against a good team that is hugely motivated as well.
‘‘There’s a bit on it. Ideally we want to win it to put ourselves in a position to make the top eight.’’ The Crusaders have won nine of the past 10 southern derbies. That’s a bit ugly. But — sorry, Highlanders, but there is no way to avoid this topic — it pales in comparison with the ugliest streak in Super Rugby.
It will be 20 straight losses to fellow New Zealand teams if they let the old enemy through the gates tonight.
The Highlanders have not beaten a New Zealand side since their win over the Blues in April 2021, and the average losing margin in that grim run is 16 points.
‘‘It’s been a mixed bag against Kiwi teams this year,’’ Dermody said.
‘‘We’ve been close in two of them and let ourselves down at home against the Hurricanes, and I know the boys are still sore about the way we played.’’
The Highlanders have showed glimpses of promise in their attacking game but it is fair to assume tonight might come down to tactics and defensive intensity. First five Cameron Millar will rightly be feeling good after his efforts in Tonga and tonight is another huge opportunity to show his kicking game can be influential.
The Highlanders have won more turnovers (6.6) per game than any other team in Super Rugby this season, so look for Sean Withy and turnover machine Timoci Tavatavanawai to challenge in that area. Confidence must be an issue at the Crusaders but the defending champions still bring a squad with doubledigit All Blacks and some outofform yet dangerous weapons.
Scott Barrett returns to add all of his physicality and workrate, while winger Sevu Reece has been a lone shining light and is equal top of the tryscoring charts with nine.
However the Crusaders play, it is on the Highlanders to prove they are good enough to consign this blasted losing streak to the history books.