A southern derby: Brace yourself

There’s no catching the Crusaders, but don’t let that take the gloss off Saturday afternoon’s match between the Highlanders and red and blacks in Christchurch.

Highlanders coach Tony Brown quickly switched his attention from his team’s 44-28 round 14 win against the Waratahs in Dunedin to the South Island derby, a challenge he labelled ’’massive’’.

Afternoon rugby on a crisp Christchurch day, a packed AMI Stadium locked in on two white-hot teams bashing each other - it can’t come soon enough.

‘‘Massive. It’s why you play the game,’’ Brown said when discussing the match-up against Crusaders.

‘‘To go and play the Crusaders in Christchurch in front of a full stadium, where both teams are going to go hell for leather and throw the ball around and be really physical.

‘‘It’s going to be an intense match. There’s no better way to finish before the [international] break.’’

Brown could promote firstfive eighth Lima Sopoaga, who scored a try and had a hand in two others in 20 minutes off the bench against the Waratahs, into the starting line-up in favour of Marty Banks.

Coming off a lengthy hamstring injury, the 26-year-old has chalked up 45 minutes the past two weeks, and got a couple of chances to test his leg in open play in their latest win. the unbeaten

‘‘We just need to see how he pulls up and just have a yarn to him and see if he’s ready to go,’’ Brown said.

‘‘If he is, we’ll have a yarn about it, and if he’s confident I think we’ll throw him out there.’’

Trailing the out of reach Crusaders by 14 competition points with two regular season games to play, the Highlanders will put their nine-match winning streak on the line against the Crusaders’ 13-match run.

Both sides are already assured of a playoff spot and, despite the match not having huge implications for the Highlanders, they can severely dent their rivals’ chances of claiming the highly sought after top seed.

‘‘We can’t really chase down the Crusaders . . . it’s going to be a one-off match and we’ll come up there and give it a hell of a crack and see where we finish up,’’ Brown said.

‘‘They’re obviously playing some outstanding rugby. Undefeated, and deservedly so. They’ve set the standard in Super Rugby this year, so it’s going to be a hell of a challenge for us.’’

While overall satisfied with the six-tries to four win against the Waratahs, Brown wasn’t enthused by his team’s defensive performance, which cost the side a bonus-point.

They will certainly have to step things up a notch next week, particularly if they are to avoid a repeat of their 30-27 round two loss against the Crusaders in Dunedin.

Mention that defeat result of a second - the half meltdown - and Highlanders fans’ blood will immediately boil as they raise the controversial yellow card to Malakia Fekitoa in the final 10 minutes, a decision Brown disagreed with in the aftermath of the game.

However, since dropping that match and starting the season 0-2, Highlanders fans have had almost as much to cheer about as the Christchurch-based mob.

Ten wins from 11 games, and an increasingly healthy squad with the business end of the competition looming, has made sure of that.

‘‘We’ve created a bit of momentum ourselves. I guess you could say the two form sides are going to meet in Christchurch on Saturday,’’ Brown said.