On their return from Canberra, the Highlanders headed to Invercargill to face the Melbourne Rebels, a side laced with young international superstars such as James O'Connor and Kurtley Beale; players who have proven to be a handful for opponents over the past couple of years.
The Reberls were coming up against a Highlanders squad who seemed to have emptied the tanks in their match against the Brumbies last week, a match where they lost their All Black first-five, Colin Slade to a broken leg for the remainder of the season.
After missing most of last year's Super Rugby rugby season with two broken jaws, Slade has to, yet again, sit on the sidelines and wonder what could have been. He is not the only one in the Highlanders who have fallen victim to season ending injuries; with John Hardie (turf-toe injury) and
replacement first-five Lima Sopoaga (broken scapula) also ruled out for most of the season, if not all of it, things have looked pretty bleak for the Highlanders after what has been a very promising start to the season.
With the Rugby Park faithful behind them, the Highlanders attempted to put their injury woes behind them.
In the first thirty minutes, the southerners dominated the majority of both the possession and territory, the drive was not lost, but silly mistakes paid dividends, coughing up valuable opportunities to the Rebels, who took the early 9-0 through three James O'Connor penalties. On top of the growing error and turnover tally, Chris Noakes, who has been reliable all season with the boot, struggled to continue that form.
Ben Smith cruised in a try to provide some hope ten minutes from the half and after James O'Connor slotted another penalty soon after, the Highlanders resorted back to what has been their game-clinching tactic this season, something I like to call, ‘fight-back mode'. They found their groove and their rhythm, putting Adam Thomson over the try line to go into the changing sheds 12-12.
If the Highlanders had emptied their tanks last week, they found the fuel they were looking for and came out firing on all cylinders in the second half. Their ball in hand play has been something that has set them apart this year, and with kicking options scarce this tactic paid off. Using a role reversal technique (backs dominating turnovers at the breakdown and forwards performing slick cut-out passes), the Highlanders ran in five more tries in the second forty to return to their winning ways, ending the game 43-12 with 31 unanswered second half points.
Once the Highlanders gained momentum, the Rebels had nothing to show for it, maybe Robbie Deans was right (sorry Crusaders, I'm stealing this), "A champion team will always beat, a team of champions".
Next week - Stormers at Forsyth Barr, I'll be there, will you?