Highlanders vow to deliver
Highlanders co-captain James Lentjes says an enjoyable level of off-the-ball niggle at training points to a much-improved performance against the Rebels on Sunday.
The Highlanders were poor last week against the Waratahs, prompting head coach Tony Brown to question their preparation, but it appears the same mistake won’t be made twice before a must-win Super Rugby Pacific game across the ditch.
‘‘We just talked about how we probably didn’t get our week right last week for a number of reasons,’’ Lentjes said yesterday.
‘‘But the main thing was that individually we weren’t all good to go last weekend, and it showed in our performance. We’ll look to change that this week.
‘‘There’s been a wee bit going on off the ball. It’s been good to see. The boys are pretty keen.’’
The Highlanders are much changed from the team that lost to the Waratahs, with Jermaine Ainsley, Andrew Makalio, Ethan de Groot, Bryn Evans, Marino Mikaele-Tu’u, Marty Banks, Thomas Umaga-Jensen, Fetuli Paea and Liam Coombes-Fabling starting in Melbourne.
That’s a significant chunk of experience and muscular presence, and they are set to regain more firepower if they confirm eighth spot this weekend to book a quarterfinal against the Blues in Auckland.
All Blacks flanker Shannon Frizell, who injured his knee against the Hurricanes in midApril, is now good to go.
‘‘Shannon will play club rugby this weekend,’’ Brown said. ‘‘Hopefully, he’ll get a good 40 minutes for Taieri, and then be available for selection on Monday.’’
The likelihood of Liam Coltman, Connor Garden-Bachop and Mitch Hunt all being available for that Blues clash is less certain.
Coltman was ruled out of the Rebels game with a calf injury, Garden-Bachop suffered a concussion last week, and Hunt is working his way back from the nasty head knock he suffered against the Western Force.
The outlook is better for Scott Gregory, who misses the Rebels game due to the flu but should be available next week.
The Highlanders, however, are wary of looking too far ahead after the setback against the Waratahs showed they aren’t good enough to take their foot off the pedal in any way.
Lentjes said he wouldn’t even watch the Force v Hurricanes game tomorrow night even though a Hurricanes win would guarantee them a finals berth, while veteran first-five Banks reiterated that the Waratahs loss
‘‘wasn’t up to our standards’’.
‘‘The boys are pretty aware that we didn’t probably perform to the standard we wanted to,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re well aware of that as a group. We had a pretty honest chat the first day in.
‘‘So now it’s on us. We didn’t really need a spray from the coaches because we knew we hadn’t performed.
‘‘Physically, we’ve got to meet the Rebels this week from the first minute and then build into it from there.’’
Banks also indicated that his role was clear – feeding his outsides.
‘‘I think the big work-on is just shifting the ball,’’ Banks said. ‘‘Our midfield is really elusive, and we’ve got some good outside backs.
‘‘So I think my role this week is just to get the ball into their hands, and let them do their thing.
‘‘Then when we get a bit of momentum, then I can look to run. Just not overplaying my hand is probably a big thing.
‘‘We’ve got some really good athletes in our team. I’ve got to get them in the right position to be able to attack and take control of the game.’’