Otago Daily Times Online rugby writer Jeff Cheshire looks at some key points from the Highlanders' 26-13 win over the Chiefs.
Naholo's return
Waisake Naholo could not have wished for a better return. Two tries, three breakdown penalties won and a handful of other good moments. In space he looked as dangerous ever and in finishing both his tries, he showed his ability to go on the outside and over the top. Not only is he lethal on the attack, he attracts defensive attention when he is in that type of form, opening up space for others elsewhere. His work at the breakdown was brilliant, while his kick chase cut down the space the Chiefs had to counterattack in.
Kick and chase
After deviating from it for a few weeks, the Highlanders' kick and chase tactic seems to be back. Aaron Smith and Lima Sopoaga were the key men with the boot, putting up contestable kicks that enabled the chasers to apply pressure. On several occasions the Highlanders' got those kicks back, although when they didn't they normally got up fast enough to cut down the Chiefs' counterattack. It was a risky tactic against a team as dangerous as the Chiefs. If they got it wrong, the Chiefs had the players that could have made them pay. But they did not, and it showed just how much trust the Highlanders have in both their kick chase and their defence.
Patience on attack
As far as patience and composure on attack goes, this was the best the Highlanders have been this year. While the kick chase and strong defence exerted pressure, it was their ability to string together phases that really opened up space for them with ball in hand. Both second half tries came after periods where the Highlanders didn't try to do too much, allowing them to retain the ball and manipulate the Chiefs' defence on the back of some hard work from the forward pack. That forced the Chiefs into infringing. But the Highlanders did not settle for the penalty, continuing to work the ball to create space. When that space presented itself, they did a good job of executing to exploit it. Good teams know how to do this and over the past two weeks the Highlanders have been an outstanding team.
Ngatai's yellow card
Charlie Ngatai's yellow card will no doubt be controversial, although it is a sign of the way things are going. Elliot Dixon was flipped in a motion that looked more awkward than sinister. Like the Willie le Roux-Jason Emery incident two weeks ago, it was not a good look. But did it really warrant a card? Ngatai didn't do much wrong. Dixon seemed to jump and got himself into an awkward position with Ngatai underneath him, which caused him to flip. You have to look after players in the air, but you shouldn't penalise players based on the result of an incident, you should to penalise them based on the action they performed. The point of a yellow card is to try to deter the player, or other players, from performing an action again. But if it was more a case of bad luck, the card is going to have little effect. In rugby you are going to have instances like this. You know that when you sign up for the sport and while you do what you can to protect the players, there are inevitably going to be some accidents.
Strong defence
Once again the Highlanders defended well. They flew up quickly to prevent the Chiefs' attacking threats getting into space and when the line was broken they scrambled and reset well. You could argue it was their best defensive performance of the season. They have tackled more accurately and for longer in previous games, but not against a team as threatening as the Chiefs. A few line breaks were inevitable and the fact that they responded to them by scrambling so well showed that they are not one-dimensional on defence. The likes of Damian McKenzie and Charlie Ngatai were dangerous, although the Highlanders limited what they could do. In the end, holding the leading try-scoring team in the competition to two tries was a top effort.
Chiefs' mistakes
The Chiefs were their own worst enemies at times, making mistakes through dropping ball and forcing passes. It wasn't dissimilar to the Highlanders' issues of a few weeks back. So often they would launch a promising attack, only for an offload to go to ground, or the ball to be lost in contact. That prevented them from building phases, which meant they had to rely on breaking tackles and creating gaps, rather than putting the defence under pressure, to make their breaks. Perhaps the Highlanders' defence was playing on their minds.
