ODT Online rugby writer Jeff Cheshire looks at five key points from the Highlanders' win over the Crusaders in Christchurch at the weekend.
How was this an upset?
Seriously, when will people start giving the Highlanders some respect? They were paying over three dollars to win at the TAB and by the way the commentators were talking, you would think this was a team that had been losing regularly. It really is hard to fathom.
The Crusaders have literally had one performance to write home about this season. Their four wins have come against a rusty Highlanders team, travelling Lions and Cheetahs teams and a Sharks outfit reduced to 14-men for half the game. In fact, they were behind the Highlanders on the table heading into the game, after having played an extra game.
The Highlanders beat the same Chiefs team that scored 40 against the Crusaders and proceeded to beat the Waratahs and Stormers when they were on top of their respective conferences.
Sure the Highlanders were coming off a bye, but the Crusaders were coming back from South Africa. Seriously, it is hard to see the logic behind calling this game an upset. The Crusaders might be coming into form, but this is a good Highlanders team who had played pretty well in their last outing as well. It was a good win, but give the Highlanders some credit.
Same formula, again
Once again the Highlanders were forced to withstand a lot of pressure early on before cashing in later. For the first 30 minutes they hardly had the ball and backs rarely got a chance. The Crusaders defence cut down the space Fekitoa and the like had to work with, meaning the outside backs were virtually a non-factor. But they hung in there and while it was messy and they hardly looked like scoring at all, they did enough to hold the Crusaders to two tries.
Throughout the middle of the game gaps opened up in the Crusaders defence and the Highlanders exploited them well. When new players were introduced, the gaps dried up and it became a case of holding on again, which they did. That, in a nutshell, is a summary of the majority of the Highlanders' performances this year.
Defensive tactics make intercept likely
The Highlanders have had a few intercepts this year, but they are not luck. They have employed a defensive system which involves someone on the outside - Fekitoa, Shaun Treeby, Patrick Osborne, Waisake Naholo - rushing up and hedging to stop the pass wide. It is risky, because when they get it wrong it can leave them exposed. One of the impressive things about this team is that they normally do it pretty well, hence why their defence has been so tough to breach. It is designed to stop the attacking threats out wide from getting the ball, making the opposition throw a risky pass should they want to get it out to them.
There have been multiple instances this year when teams have fell into the trap of throwing it straight to the man who has come up fast. The Crusaders did it twice in this game, once on Waisake Naholo's try and another almost straight after. It has almost become an attacking weapon for the Highlanders and given that Fekitoa and Treeby in particular are so good at reading the situation, they are really left exposed inside.
Crusaders' line speed
The Crusaders were getting up fast on defence, very fast in fact, particularly in the first 30 minutes and the final ten. It cut down the Highlanders' space and the Crusaders' physicality prevented them from getting any go-forward to prevent the quick line speed. You always knew the Highlanders just had to hang in there though as keeping up that intensity for an entire game is pretty tough. They did just that and it was not until the final ten minutes that the Crusaders really exhibited the same intensity. As it was, it felt as though they were creeping up a long way offside at times. Owen Franks was quite noticeable, as was Kieran Read at times. Policing this should be the No. 1 job of the assistant referee. That the players were so far offside, on so many occasions needs to be cracked down on. It is happening too often and it is killing the game.
Two away wins
The Highlanders tactics that had worked so well in their indoor stadium had been largely unproven away from home in an outdoor environment up until this week. They had worked once against the Chiefs, but once can be a fluke. Against the Crusaders they proved that perhaps it was not a fluke.
With so many away games to come, that is hugely encouraging. Even if the tactics do falter, at least they have worked twice, which have resulted in two away wins, both of which will be worth their weight in gold at the end of the season.
