Questions aplenty as season fast approaches

Highlanders players train at Logan Park. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
Highlanders players train at Logan Park. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
It is still January, yes. But rugby season is coming. The Highlanders play their first preseason game in two days, and face their Super Rugby Pacific opener in 16 days. 

Hayden Meikle comes up with five early questions for them.

1. What will Jamie Joseph do?

It is the biggest talking point of the Highlanders’ season, obviously. Jamie Joe is back, 10 years after coaching the Landers to their first and only championship, and there is naturally plenty of excitement among the fans. He is now a vastly experienced coach who commands respect the second he walks into the room.

Can he work wonders again? Will his overhaul of the club, on and off the field, lead to success? How will he go without the little genius Tony Brown by his side? Will he have to adapt his methods to suit a new generation of players, or will it be his way or the highway? Should be an interesting season.

2. How will the new leadership duo perform?

Hugh Renton and Timoci Tavatavanawai are known quantities as rugby players. Renton is an all-action No 8 who should no longer be flying under the radar, and Tavatavanawai is a winged weapon with the strength of a tight forward. But what do we know about their captaincy chops? Pretty much nothing, nor do we know exactly how they will mesh as co-captains.

On a related issue, it will be interesting to see how the Highlanders’ sole All Black (surely that changes this year) responds to missing out on a leadership role. Ethan de Groot was long seen as a future Highlanders captain, and while his jersey at his club seems secure, he has work to do to be a starting All Black again.

Blockbusting winger Timoci Tavatavanawai, known as Jim, will be a Highlanders co-captain this...
Blockbusting winger Timoci Tavatavanawai, known as Jim, will be a Highlanders co-captain this year. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

3. Lock, stock and . . . who?

Call us obsessed but we really have not seen anything like this in Super Rugby before. The Highlanders named just two specialist locks in their original squad. Yes, two. And a rugby team requires two of them for all 80 minutes, every week.

Fabian Holland and Mitch Dunshea form a heck of a combination, to be fair, but they will need cover in the second row. The injury to Oliver Haig, a proper blindside flanker but comfortable at lock, adds another wrinkle. Expect TK Howden, Will Stodart and possibly Lui Naeata to be seen in a No 4 or 5 jersey at some stage.

4. Can Finn fly?

Take a poll of 100 Highlanders fans. Ask them which player they most hope will have a spectacular break-out season. It would not surprise if about 90 of them said ‘‘the wee fella at fullback’’. Finn Hurley is indeed on the small side for a professional rugby player - just 78kg and 1.74m - but that angle has been well covered. He also has but one Highlanders start, and four caps off the bench. Big deal.

There is a whiff of magic about the Gore product, and it would warm the heart if he gets a chance to shine while Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens is sidelined.

5. How many games do they win?

And that, after all, is really the only question that counts. All you need to do is win, and nothing else matters.

The Highlanders won four games in 2022 (finishing eighth), five in 2023 (ninth) and six in 2024 (sixth). Looks like a trend - seven wins incoming in 2025? Home wins over the Reds, Drua and Moana Pasifika are essential.

Home wins over the Hurricanes, the Chiefs and the lowly-but-likely-to-improve Crusaders would be nice. Away wins over the wooden-spoon Waratahs, Moana Pasifika and the Force would be very handy. Others might be a bonus. Highly possible the Landers win seven games, and that should be enough for the top six.

hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz

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