Rugby: Care needed as Highlanders balance playoff hopes and ABs' rest

When will the Highlanders rest their three All Blacks again?

That continues to be a mystery as the side looks to balance making the playoffs and giving its key men a week off.

Ben Smith, Aaron Smith and Malakai Fekitoa will again front for the Highlanders when they play the Force in Perth tonight.

That leaves just three opportunities in the regular season for the star trio to have another break.

An agreement between Super rugby coaches and All Black management called for the top players to be rested for at least two games.

This has varied for other players but most have missed two games.

The two Smiths and Fekitoa missed the match against the Brumbies, and that was the Highlanders' worst performance of the season.

So when the three backs have another rest could be a big factor in the Highlanders' hopes of making the playoffs.

If they had beaten the Lions in their first game in Africa, the trio would most probably have taken the game against the Cheetahs off.

But the loss meant the Highlanders needed to be at full strength against the Cheetahs to leave Africa with at least one win.

Coach Jamie Joseph has included the players against the Force, which is a key game for the side.

He said from Perth no fixed plan had been made for the trio.

That leaves three games, all in New Zealand and against New Zealand sides, for the players to have a rest.

The Highlanders travel to Invercargill next Saturday to play the Chiefs and then play the Hurricanes and the Blues, both away on consecutive Friday nights.

The Highlanders may decide to rest the All Blacks in Invercargill so they can play the final two games, knowing the side will be at full strength for key games.

Whether that would go down well in the deep South, with the side playing its first game in Invercargill for more than two years, is debatable.

Alternatively, Joseph could leave it to the final game against the Blues, hoping a playoff berth has been banked before the game at Eden Park.

Much is going to depend on results in other matches as teams knock each other out of playoff contention.

Although hindsight is a wonderful thing, one wonders why the Highlanders did not simply pick the first two games of the season, against the Crusaders and Reds, to rest the players, and get the issue out of the way.

• Joseph said no progress had been made on the release of winger Waisake Naholo from his contract with French club Clermont. The issue was in the hands of lawyers, he said.

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