There isn’t too much worse in sport than being the underachiever. At least if you’re an underdog, there’s no expectation on you – so if you lose you’re on par for the course, whilst if you grab a win you may well be within your rights to demand the key to the city you’re representing and call for a national day of celebration (see the Southern Kings' victory as a reference point). The moral here is: go into a season with optimism at your peril, as the Highlanders will testify.
Looking at the Highlanders first team squad shows off a host of quality players – Ma’a Nonu, Aaron Smith, Tony Woodcock, Hosea Gear and Colin Slade to name but a few. But what happens when these guys aren’t available? That’s when you see what a team is really made of, and there have been some who have suggested that strength in depth may be a bit of an issue for the Otago side. That certainly seemed to potentially be the case when they were turned over by the Cheetahs at home last weekend, where they lacked direction without the likes of Slade and Nonu, and panicked themselves into making mistakes in the first half which ultimately made the game irrecoverable, despite a decent showing in the second period. The Highlanders will have been drilled senseless this week, told to slow the ball down when it’s not on and, above all, look after it! It’s no use having the firepower that the men in blue have if they’re not going to provide them with decent ball – their showing against the Chiefs and even, to a degree, against the Cheetahs gave an indication of what they’re capable of. It will be interesting to see how Jason Emery will fit in at 13 – the youngster won’t have been expecting his first Super Rugby start so soon, but now he’s got it he’ll hopefully realise what a wonderful opportunity he has.
The Hurricanes didn’t quite start the season with the same expectations, with a host of key players leaving in the off-season, but have had a frustrating time of it none the less. A surprise loss at home to the unfancied Blues was followed by a frustrating loss away to the Reds. But they did come through with a somewhat fortuitous win against the mighty Crusaders, nicking a 1 point win despite their opposition scoring 4 tries. The Canes may have been shorn of several test stars but players like Julian Savea, Victor Vito and Conrad Smith are all capable of magic, but they must tighten up the screws and get their pack competing if they are to pose any real threat to topsides this year.
With matches between these 2 sides pretty even (in Dunedin, the teams have won 5 matches each) and defences about as watertight as Chris Huhne’s case in his recent court appearance (google it you’re not from the UK), we should be in for an entertaining display of running rugby. Fingers crossed we can at least achieve that.
Highlanders Team News
Colin Slade returns from injury at fly half and there will be a Super Rugby debut for Jason Emery in the centres with Ma’a Nonu out, while in the pack Chris King, Jarrad Hoeata and Elliot Dixon all start.
Starting line-up: Ben Smith, Kade Poki, Jason Emery, Phil Burleigh, Hosea Gear, Colin Slade, Aaron Smith, Tony Woodcock, Andrew Hore (capt), Chris King, Brad Thorn, Jarrad Hoeata, Joe Wheeler, John Hardie, Elliot Dixon.
Subs: Brayden Mitchell, Ma'afu Fia, Jake Paringatai, TJ Ioane, Fumiaki Tanaka, Lima Sopoaga, Buxton Popoalii
Key Player
Jason Emery. The Under 20s star has been dropped in at the deep end somewhat, especially considering his opposite number will be the All Black veteran Conrad Smith, who is arguably the best 13 in the world. The kid must try to relax and not try and do everything by himself early on, but if he remains calm then we could see some fireworks from the highly rated youngster.
Hurricanes Team News
The Hurricanes have made two changes to their line up for
the clash in Dunedin. James Marshall is
preferred at full-back to Andre Taylor, with last season's joint-top try-scorer
dropping to the bench. Up front Ben May
starts at tighthead prop, with Jeffery Toomaga-Allen injuring his sternum.
Starting line-up: James Marshall, Alapati Leiua, Conrad Smith (captain), Tim Bateman, Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Ben Franks, Motu Matu'u / Ash Dixon, Ben May, Jeremy Thrush, Jason Eaton, Brad Shields, Karl Lowe, Victor Vito.
Subs: tbc, Reggie Goodes/Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, James Broadhurst, Faifili Levave, Chris Smylie, Tusi Pisi, Andre Taylor.
Key Player
Conrad Smith. The
Wellington captain is up against a kid on Friday night and needs to make sure
he spends his evening pressurising Emery into making mistakes. Expect ‘the snake’ to use every trick in the
book to get into the head of his opponent early on, but he’ll need to be at his
brainy best to defend against any flash footwork that the young centre may try
and put on against him.
Key Battle
Kade Poki v Julian Savea. Ok, from the above you should be able to see I was pretty tempted to pick the two 13s who are at almost opposite ends of the experience chart, but these 2 wingers are on fire in otherwise underperforming teams. Poki is a small, agile and (above all) lightening quick winger with an eye for the tryline, as he showed when grabbing his hat-trick last week, whilst Savea is being proclaimed as the new Lomu after a brutal display of power last weekend, as well as being no slouch himself. Savea will win any head-on confrontation, but if Poki gets the big man to turn and attacks him in space, then we may see how nimble Savea really is.
Prediction
Although they suffered a pretty humbling defeat last week, all the Cheetah’s tries came from the Highlanders’ mistakes, and Jamie Joseph will have made sure that his side have learned this week never to be as imprecise again. Although the Canes looked great last week I can’t help but feel that this is a very handy Highlanders side who will be a very tricky prospect at home. The Highlanders will nick a close one by 3 points.
What else is on the Super Rugby Agenda this weekend?
Waratahs v
Cheetahs: A tight one to call,
especially in Sydney after the Cheetahs romped to a win in Dunedin last
week. I think at home though the New
South Wales side might just nick it. Waratahs
by 6.Kings v Chiefs: The Kings have proved themselves to be no mugs and have surprised people with their stubbornness. Surely though, an electric Chiefs side will be too much for them? Chiefs by 25 points.
Crusaders v Bulls: The Crusaders will be as shocked as anyone that they’ve lost their first two games. Despite the Bulls showing up well last week, I don’t think the Crusaders will get turned over at home. Crusaders by 5.
Reds v Force: The force is not with the Force this year (sorry) and they are looking very vulnerable – particularly away from home. The Reds have started winning but without any real conviction – I expect that to change this weekend. Reds by 20 points.
Sharks v Brumbies: Two sides with 100% records go head to head – I thought this may be my match of the week but the Sharks have reduced the last 2 games they’ve played in to error-strewn messes. I hope this won’t go the same way but, whatever happens, this will be a severe test of the Brumbies’ pack’s physicality. Sharks by 8.
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