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Watch: Highlanders forwards fool All Blacks star with intricate set piece move to score against Chiefs
By Sam Smith
In a first half short on tries, the Highlanders have scored the better of the two in the opening stanza of their Super Rugby Aotearoa clash with the Chiefs in Dunedin.
Trailing the visitors 7-0 in the 10th minute, the Highlanders were handed the chance to attack from inside their opponents' 22 via a lineout.
Co-captain Ash Dixon's throw was reeled in by veteran lock Bryn Evans, who then landed on the ground to help form a rolling maul about 15 metres from the Chiefs' tryline.
Flanker and former skipper James Lentjes was on hand to rip the ball away from Evans' grasp and looked to fling the ball away to fellow loose forward Shannon Frizell, who wrapped around the maul from the blindside to the openside.
The line Frizell ran was designed to draw the Chiefs' defenders out wide, but what the visitors didn't anticipate was that the hosts were using the 13-test All Black as a decoy runner.
Instead of actually passing the ball to Frizell, Lentjes dummied before setting off on his own down the short side.
It was in that wide channel near the touchline where Chiefs captain Brad Weber stood when the maul was formed, but Frizell's decoy line and Lentjes' dummy fooled the All Blacks halfback, who left his position to chase down after Frizell.
However, by the time he realised he was chasing the wrong man and that Frizell didn't have the ball, Lentjes had stormed into open space that was made available by Weber's misread.
That allowed Lentjes and Dixon to create a two-on-one try-scoring opportunity as the pair honed in on the tryline with only Chiefs first-five Kaleb Trask in their way.
With the ball in two hands, Lentjes forced Trask to hold off for as long as possible before opting to crash through the No 10's defensive effort right on his own tryline.
Not even the scrambling effort of Weber, who backtracked quickly as soon as he realised he'd misread the play, could stop Lentjes from scoring, much to the delight of the home crowd and Highlanders coaches Tony Brown and Clarke Dermody.
The try went unconverted, though, and the Chiefs carried a 10-5 lead into half-time.
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Latest Comments
It might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
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