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The Highlanders know they won’t get away with another sleepy 20-minute premiere against the bruised Blues next weekend.
Jona Nareki’s demolition job against the Chiefs on Friday signaled the potential on Tony Brown’s side, but so far they have been slow in their two Super Rugby Aotearoa games and co-captain Ash Dixon insists that has to change. .
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Ash Dixon struggles away after receiving a yellow card against the Chiefs on Friday.
“Our whole game,” was Dixon’s response when asked what the Highlanders needed to improve.
“Right around our intensity in those first 20 minutes, we just didn’t match it with the Chiefs.
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“They went out and managed to make a really fast ball. We were offside, we couldn’t win collisions, we were always backing up.
“So, I think we can really look at our beginning and work out our first half.
“The Blues are a great threat. They have the X factor throughout the park and a great power play. “
The Highlanders trailed the Chiefs 20-6 at one point in Hamilton, while the Crusaders had a 14-0 early lead in Dunedin last week.
Brown admitted in his post-game interview on Sky that coaches had peppered players with “f-words” during a spray at halftime, and that seemed to provoke a reaction from the wing.
However, running past the bug-ridden Chiefs side is one thing and the Highlanders will be desperate to avoid chasing the game against Leon MacDonald’s well-trained title contenders.
Kerry Marshall / Getty Images
Jona Nareki crashes on his second try against the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato.
The Highlanders lost twice to the Blues last year and in the most recent clash, a 32-21 loss at Dunedin last August, the Aucklanders used their large pack to wipe out the Highlanders in the first half.
To counter that, the Highlanders will need to be physically up front but also play wide, and Brown noted that Josh Ioane and Mitch Hunt’s No. 10-No. 15 partnership will likely stick.
“They are both quality players and they need each other to be able to execute really well on the field, and the team needs them too,” Brown said.
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Highlanders coach Tony Brown says Josh Ioane and Mitch Hunt work well as partners.
“When they play well together, I think the game is easy for our forwards and for guys like Jona and Sio Tomkinson, whom I thought was amazing. [against the Chiefs]They can do their thing because they know Josh and Mitch are working to get the ball into space. “
The Highlanders will have to face the Blues without their two heads loose, after Daniel Lienert-Brown suffered a broken arm on Friday.
Lienert-Brown broke his left forearm in the second half against the Chiefs and will be out until the end of April.
Ayden Johnstone has returned to the training paddock after a long period of concussion, but is not ready yet, leaving Josh Hohneck and Ethan de Groot as the Highlanders’ only options against Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tuungafasi of the All Blacks. of the Blues.
