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'Been a long time coming': Highlanders win big against Fijian Drua
By AAP
The injury-hit Highlanders conceded the first try of the match, then scored five of their own in the first half on the way to a 57-24 win over the Fijian Drua in Super Rugby Pacific.
Brilliant scrumhalf Frank Lomani scored the opening try for the Drua after 14 minutes.
But the Highlanders responded with four tries in the space of 16 minutes through the middle of the first half, then added another just before the break to take a 33-12 lead to halftime.
All Blacks scrumhalf Aaron Smith scored a sixth try in the fourth minute of the second half to increase the lead to 38-12, then Jonah Lowe made it 45-12 with the seventh in the 53rd.
Lomani scored his second try and kicked a conversion of a try to Tevita Ikaniveri as the Drua stayed in the match but a second try to Argentina import Martin Bogado and another to Cameron Millar gave the Highlanders a welcome bonus point and an emphatic win.
After starting the season with three straight losses they now have won their past two matches and move up to mid-table with the Drua who also have a 2-3 record.
"It's been a long time coming for us to string a whole performance together and really build those moments," Highlanders captain Billy Harmon said.
"That's what it's all about this week, that execution to build our momentum and that's what we've done.
"We know the Drua, they love to play that loose game and it's easy to get into that loose game when you're against it. But we just wanted to stick to our system and just play our game."
The Highlanders' plan for the match was disrupted by injuries, including the loss of two players only hours before the start of play.
They had to dig even deeper into their playing resources and rearrange the backline when replacement center Jake Te Hiwi had to leave the field injured after just 12 minutes.
Lomani scored only moments later and the Highlanders looked in trouble. But they had a resounding response as they ran in try after try before halftime.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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