One down, four to go.
The Highlanders beat the Reds 40-19 at Forsyth Barr Stadium last night, winning the first game of the new Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition.
It was a measured and controlled performance from the home team which played at an intensity which at times was too good for the visiting side.
The Reds were willing but lacked accuracy and, as expected, ran out of puff in the last quarter.
The Highlanders were always comfortably ahead and scrambled well on defence. The home team though left plenty of points out there and was guilty of lacking composure at times.
The Reds were coming off an epic final and the side lacked sting when it mattered. It made few line breaks and was one-dimensional in its attack for most of the game.
The Highlanders led 21-7 at the break and, although they had little real ball to play with in the second half, they did enough defensively to eventually win the game comfortably. The home team sealed the victory with a lineout drive try from replacement hooker Liam Coltman with 10 minutes left.
The Reds had plenty of ball in the second 40 minutes but much of the play was centred around the halfway line and the Reds never had a sustained period of pressure.
Best for the Highlanders were winger Jona Nareki, halfback Aaron Smth and locks Josh Dickson and Pari Pari Parkinson.
The Highlanders made a dream start, scoring after just 40 seconds. The Reds mucked up the exit from the kick off. The Highlanders grabbed the ball, went through two phases and second five-eighth Scott Gregory was over.
But the 7-0 lead lasted only five miutes. The Reds pressed on the back of a couple of penalties and halfback Kalani Thomas squirmed his way over under the posts.
The game then rather meandered for the next 20 minutes as neither side could get any continuity into its games. Eventually hooker Ash Dixon barged over.
The home team kept up the pressure and a beautiful 20m pass from Smith found winger Sio Tomkinson and he simply strolled over to score.
