A dominant second half performance has helped the Highlanders thump the Hurricanes 30-14 in Dunedin tonight.
The two teams fought out a gritty first half before superior back play in the second half sealed the Highlanders’ win.
The home side’s victory was assured when they piled on three second-half tries to one, with Aaron Smith, Tyrel Lomax and Waisake Naholo all scoring five-pointers in thbve second stanza.
Before the Highlanders ran rampant in the second half, the Dunedin crowd saw a much more evenly matched contest.
The two teams fought out an intense first half, which ended with an exciting run of play.
The Highlanders were down 7-3, while frantically trying to score four minutes after the half-time hooter had sounded.
Their persistence would eventually pay off with Tevita Li scoring a crucial try.
That sent the teams to the sheds evenly poised, with the Highlanders ahead 8-7.
Earlier in the second half, the match saw its most contentious passage of play.
The Hurricanes were denied a Jordie Barrett try by the TMO after a lengthy decision.
Barrett was lying on the ground injured just seconds before running through the Highlanders’ defence.
The TMO took an age to make his decision and eventually ruled no try.
Foul play from Liam Squire was also spotted during the lengthy looks at the match replays, which resulted in him getting a yellow card.
The decision saw both teams get their backs up and there was plenty of pushing and shoving in the ensuing minutes.
Squire’s absence only seemed to will the home side on as they built towards a dominant second half performance.
The no-try decision made little difference either, as the Highlanders went on to dominate the Hurricanes and win 30-14.
Scorers:
Highlanders:
Tevita Li, Aaron Smith, Tyrel Lomax, Waisake Naholo tries
Lima Sopoaga 2 conv, 2 pen
Hurricanes
J Barrett, Toomago-Allan Tries.
B Barrett 2 conv.
Halftime: Highlanders 8, Hurricanes 7