Rugby: Poor first half seals loss for Highlanders

Jesse Mogg of the Brumbies controls a high ball during the round 11 Super Rugby match between the...
Jesse Mogg of the Brumbies controls a high ball during the round 11 Super Rugby match between the Brumbies and the Highlanders at GIO Stadium, Photo by Getty Images.
A train wreck of a first half sealed a Highlanders loss in Canberra last night.

The Brumbies ran out 31-18 winners over the visiting side, after being up a staggering 31-6 at halftime.

The Highlanders had played a quality first 40 minutes in their win over the Blues last week.

But last night the side went to the bottom drawer, not the top, in the first period.

It conceded four tries, had no aggression and little accuracy in the tackle, and there were too many sloppy errors.

The visiting side tried a comeback in the second half but it was too steep a climb.

The Brumbies were their usual ruthless selves in the opening period and flanker David Pocock helped himself to three tries in the first half, all from rolling mauls off lineouts.

It was tough to watch at times, as the Brumbies just rolled down the paddock and the Highlanders looked like a rabbit in the headlights.

Any talk of Lima Sopoaga getting the black jersey will go quiet as he put together a disappointing effort, dropping the ball at critical times, and failing to impose himself on the game.

But it was up front where the game was lost.

The Highlanders struggled to match the physicality of the Brumbies pack in the opening 40 minutes and coach Jamie Joseph reacted by replacing his entire front row, as well as flanker James Lentjes, after conceding the fourth try in the first half.

It all started going wrong within the first five minutes.

Sopoaga spilt the ball receiving it off a scrum and the Brumbies pounced.

The ball ended up in the hands of winger Henry Speight and he galloped 30m to score.

Christian Leali'ifano knocked over the conversion and, three minutes, later added a penalty.

The nightmare opening continued when flanker Pocockwaltzed over from a lineout 5m out.

Leali'ifano added the extras and the Highlanders were staring at a hammering, 17-0 down inside quarter of an hour.

They finally got some ball and Sopoaga knocked over a couple of penalties to get his side on the board.

But it was only a short reprieve.

The Brumbies just repeated the dose with Pocock strolling over with a try from a rolling maul off a lineout.

It got seriously boring five minutes later when Pocock scored his third try, again from a 5m lineout.

The Highlanders simply had no answer to the rolling maul and energy levels were well down.

Few Highlanders would emerge from the match with any credit although centre Richard Buckman tried hard and loose forward Elliot Dixon never threw in the towel.

• Victory to the Chiefs over the Force in Hamilton last night means Dave Rennie's side has won four straight matches for the first time since June 2013, in its most recent title-winning season, NZME reports.

And, aside from a defence that leaked four tries, Rennie will be satisfied with his side's form after last week's dismantling of the Crusaders.

If anyone doubted how the Chiefs would adapt shorn of their backline general, their attack did much to silence those doubts. Marty McKenzie turned in a solid display in the No 10 jersey, adding 15 points with the boot.

Chiefs 35 (Ngatai, Elliot, Nanai-Williams tries, penalty try; McKenzie 3 pens, 3 cons), Force 27 (Cottrell, Morahan, Hodgson, Tessmann tries; Burton pen, 2 cons). Halftime: 23-8.

 


 

Highlanders v Brumbies
The scores

Brumbies                     31

David Pocock 3, Henry Speight tries; Christian Leali'ifano 4 con, pen

Highlanders                 18

Shaun Treeby, Dan Pryor tries, Lima Sopoaga con, 2 pen

Halftime: 31-6 


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