Highlanders name full-strength side for quarterfinal clash
Highlanders Head Coach Aaron Mauger has named his strongest side to take on the Waratahs in Sydney for their Super Rugby quarterfinal clash.
Returning to the team this week are All Blacks Ben Smith, Aaron Smith, Luke Whitelock, Elliot Dixon, with co-captain Ash Dixon and centre Rob Thompson re-joining the fray as well.
This is the fifth consecutive year the Highlanders have made the playoffs, finishing in 6th position at the end of the round robin stage. They are in the not unfamiliar position of being on the road having played only two playoff games at home since the inception of Super Rugby (1999 and 2015).
Mauger is excited by the opportunity.
“These are the opportunities the guys work hard all year for and there are no second chances," he said. "It’s simply about putting our best performance on the field on Saturday."
"The Waratahs are a quality side playing at home which presents an awesome challenge for our guys, but like I said, these are the games we love to play”
The Highlanders are coming off a thrilling 43-37 home victory over the Melbourne Rebels in what may have been club legend Lima Sopoaga's final game at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Last weekend's win snapped a two-game losing streak heading into the playoffs.
HIGHLANDERS
15. Ben Smith (CC), 14. Waisake Naholo, 13. Rob Thompson, 12. Teihorangi Walden, 11. Tevita Li, 10. Lima Sopoaga, 9. Aaron Smith, 8. Luke Whitelock, 7. James Lentjes, 6. Liam Squire, 5. Tom Franklin, 4. Jackson Hemopo, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 2. Liam Coltman, 1. Daniel Lienert-Brown.
Reserves: 16. Ash Dixon (CC), 17. Aki Seiuli, 18. Kalolo Tuiloma, 19. Shannon Frizell, 20. Elliot Dixon, 21. Kayne Hammington, 22. Josh Ioane, 23. Matt Faddes.
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What’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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