Rugby: Late surge sees Highlanders home

Jamie Joseph.
Jamie Joseph.
The Highlanders did the job, though it took them a while and there has been some damage.

The Highlanders beat the Kings 48-18 in Port Elizabeth yesterday after being ahead just 10-8 at the break.

The southern franchise scored seven tries in the win, picking up a bonus point, and in the end was a comfortable winner.

But it made hard work of it at times and handling errors marred its performance.

There were a dozen dropped balls in the first half alone, as the Highlanders struggled to break down the Kings in front of a virtually empty stadium.

Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said the Kings were a dogged opponent which pressured his side.

"But I thought we tried to win too quickly, win the game in the first half. We pushed too many passes and put ourselves under pressure,'' he said.

"But we were prepared to wait and we did score four tries right near the end and it was good to get a bonus point.''

He said the performance has to be taken in context - the team had travelled a long way and it was the first hit-out for a lot of players for well over a month.

More worrying for Joseph was the health of a couple of his key men.

Back-up first five-eighth Marty Banks strained a hamstring in the captain's run before the game and did not take the field.

Lima Sopoaga started, having slept for two days when he arrived in South Africa earlier in the week.

Captain Shane Christie left the field at halftime, having to be assisted from the field.

Joseph said Christie was feeling unwell and had been taken to hospital.

It was unclear what had happened to him.

Replacement loose forward Liam Squire left the field late on with a head knock and would enter concussion protocols this week.

Prop Daniel Lienert-Brown took a blow to the leg in the first half and was forced off.

It was not believed to be a serious injury.

A decision as to which players would fly back to New Zealand instead of heading to Argentina for the next game against the Jaguares was to be made overnight after injuries were fully assessed.

In the match, fullback Matt Faddes helped himself to three tries and showed some nice touches from fullback.

He also kicked well and chased hard.

Sopoaga was a fine general in charge and showed his class, while halfback Te Aihe Toma had a promising debut.

Dan Pryor, coming on for Christie, impressed up front while lock Mark Reddish was busy in his 50th game.

Otago first five-eighth Fletcher Smith came on to kick a conversion in his Super rugby debut.

Otago players scored 27 points as winger Jack Wilson and replacement prop Aki Seiuli got on the score sheet.

The win leaves the Highlanders in seventh place in the competition, though just four points separate the top four New Zealand teams.

In other results, the Waratahs beat the Sunwolves 57-12, the Stormers downed the Rebels 57-31, the Lions defeated the Sharks 37-10, the Cheetahs edged the Force 30-29, the Hurricanes beat the Blues 37-27 and the Jaguares had a good 29-11 win over the Bulls.

 


Highlanders v Kings
The scores

Highlanders           48

Matt Faddes 3, Dan Pryor, Jack Wilson, Patrick Osborne, Aki Seiuli tries; Lima Sopoaga 4 con, pen; Fletcher Smith con

Kings                      18

Wandile Mjekevu, Steven Sykes tries; Louis Fouche con, pen; Elgar Watts penHalftime: 10-8Kings


 

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