On Saturday night our Highlanders dropped the ball, literally, in an extremely important game which may come back to haunt them in a few weeks' time as we near finals footy.
Going down to the Hurricanes in that fashion left the Flying Squadron fans feeling over the moon whilst we Landers fans were left asking ‘how did the hell did that happen'?
This week sees the Bulls roll into Dunners to take on our boys and we have had the announcement of the first All Black squad for the season, which raised a few eyebrows to say the least. This week I thought I would highlight how to beat the Bulls while also looking at our boys that did and did not make the grade for the ABs.
When you take on the Bulls, discipline must be extremely good and not get off side with the referee in charge, otherwise Morne Steyn will take these opportunities and turn them into points via his prodigious boot. The Bulls are a very confrontational team imposing a lot of pressure through the efforts of their monster forward pack.
Against the Hurricanes the Highlanders made too many unforced errors dropping the ball, kicking the ball out on the full and turning over possession on too many occasions. This week to get one up over the Bulls these errors must be eliminated from the Highlanders game and we must play for a lot of territory.
Another criticism I had of the Landers from Saturday was the defensive effort, we gave them too many easy meters. Pierre Spies and his troops cannot be given the same space; we have to be up in their grill sitting them on their backside with some real attitude in defence this week.
On Sunday the latest All Blacks squad was named with quite a few of our boys featuring and will be hopeful or getting a crack against the Paddies (Ireland) when they turn up for the June internationals.
Adam Thomson has been solid all year playing great code and should get a start in the six jersey. Andrew Hore has been instrumental in the performance of the Highlanders forward pack this year with his uncompromising attitude and playing ability. Hore also has a knack of finding the chalk to score tries and one would think that with only two Hookers named by Hansen and co he will get to start as the incumbent.
From the pretty boy department of the Landers Aaron Smith, Tamati Ellison and Ben Smith have also made the grade being named in the squad. Aaron Smith has taken his opportunity to start for the Highlanders this year with both hands; he has been in dynamic form and has arguably the best pass in the country at the moment. His crisp distribution has been important in creating space for the outside backs.
Ellison has been like a rock in the midfield all year often cutting down multiple attacks from our opposition with dominant and bone jarring defense. At the age of 29 Ellison has gained valuable experience overseas and should bring a lot of qualities to the AB's environment.
Ben Smith has earned a recall with his ever reliable form. Bender has been testing defences on the counter attack and can be electric entering the line from fullback whilst being as safe as a house under the high ball at the back.
With the elation also came a realization that some had not made the cut and could be considered unlucky. Jarrad Hoeata has struggled to have the physical presence on the field or capture the form of last year partly due to an injury forcing him to miss early season games.
Hosea Gear has not been used enough by the Highlanders in recent games but has also failed to get involved and go looking for work, he must be considering going overseas in order to maximize his earning potential as his future All Black ambitions look uncertain.
This week is going to be a tough battle with the Bulls and our boys need all the support we can give them, let's get along to the game at FBS on Saturday at 5:30pm to see our boys get the season back on track. They have beaten the Bulls before and there is no doubt that they are able to repeat it.