Ben Smith 6.5/10: Looked dangerous, managed to find the gap on the counter a few times but didn't get enough chances to be as effective as he can.
Kade Poki 7/10: Best on show for the Highlanders, ran strongly to break tackles and find gaps in the defence. Three tries was a nice touch too.
Phil Burleigh 5.5/10: Solid without being spectacular, did okay with what was given to him, but was outside a team that was putting him under pressure.
Shaun Treeby 6.5/10: Big defence and was lively on attack. With the exception of Poki, he looked the most likely to break through.
Hosea Gear 6/10: Powerful when he got his chances, but he didn't get involved as much as he would have liked. Credit must go to the Cheetahs defence who made it hard for the Highlanders to get the ball to their most dangerous player.
Lima Sopoaga 3.5/10: Not the best game he's played, throwing some loose passes and kicking poorly. A few nice touches in the first half, one of
Aaron Smith 6/10: Typical performance from the All Black halfback, passing well and crisply behind a forward pack that was not always going forward. Could have kicked more when the team was under pressure and needs to continue to develop his running game as passing every time is getting predictable.
Jake Parangatai 5/10: Got involved and tried hard but couldn't impose himself physically in the same way Nasi Manu can, struggling to get any go-forward in the contact situations.
John Hardie 5.5/10: Had a good first half, linking well and tackling strongly but had a quiet second 40 and was outplayed by his opposite number.
Joe Wheeler 4.5/10: Worked hard for most of the game but his missed tackle which led to the first try was a bad miss and set the tone for the rest of the first half.
Josh Bekhuis 5.5/10: Fairly quiet, got involved running the ball but didn't impose himself. Lineouts were at times better than the first outing but still
Brad Thorn 5/10: Not the start he would have hoped for, turning over too much ball. Hit everything hard though and will undoubtedly improve.
Ma'afu Fia 5/10: Got involved around the field and was strong with the pick and go but needs to be stronger at scrum time.
Andrew Hore 4.5/10: Like Thorn, not the start to his season he would have been hoping for. Made a couple of good plays early on defence but wasn't the prominent figure he has been in the past. Expect him to get better in the coming weeks.
Tony Woodcock 4.5/10: Somewhat anonymous for a large part of the game. The scrum seems more solid than last year, but with two All Blacks in the front row they should be more dominant than they are.
Brayden Mitchell 4.5/10: Similar to his performance against the Chiefs, got into everything but just could not impose himself physically.
Jarrad Hoeata 4.5/10: Had a quiet game, although it must be hard to come on when Hoeata did and get into the game with the way he plays.
Tim Boys 4.5/10: Tackled well, but didn't have a chance to do much else.
Fumiaki Tanaka 5.5/10: Came on and didn't look out of place, but wasn't outstanding either. Passed well and wasn't dissimilar to Aaron Smith.
Colin Slade 6.5/10: It was great to see Colin Slade back out on the field and it was even better to see him put in a reasonable performance too. Ran well and took a lot of contact. For the time he was on the park, the Highlanders scored 12 points whilst the Cheetahs only scored six, hard to knock him.
Buxton Popoalii 6.5/10: Dangerous running and made what was otherwise a very good Cheetahs defence look pretty average. Will surely come into the starting line up if Ma'a Nonu and Treeby are unavailable next week.
