Highlanders to perform challenge against Lions

Will the Highlanders channel their mascot from 2006 when they perform their challenge before...
Will the Highlanders channel their mascot from 2006 when they perform their challenge before taking on the British and Irish Lions next week? Photo Getty
The Highlanders will do a challenge before their match against the British and Irish Lions but it will not be a haka.

All five New Zealand franchises will do a challenge against the Lions but only the Blues, Crusaders and the Chiefs will perform hakas.

The Hurricanes and the Highlanders will also offer challenges but they will not be hakas.

Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark said yesterday the squad had met and wanted to issue a challenge but it was felt it would not be appropriate to do a haka.

Instead, it would be a Scottish-themed challenge which would reflect the provinces the Highlanders represented.

He declined to give exact details and said all would be revealed on the night.

The game is will be played next Tuesday starting at 7.35pm.

The Blues will perform a haka tonight in their game against the Lions and have decided on He Toa Takitini (the strength of many).

It will be the first time the Blues have performed a haka. The Chiefs will perform the same haka they did before the 2012 Super Rugby final and the game against the Wales last year.

As of yesterday, the match at Forsyth Barr Stadium was heading towards a sell-out with a few hundred tickets left.

The capacity of the stadium is 28,000 with the stand erected at the Otago Daily Times end for the game.

That stand will stay up until the Bledisloe Cup match in Dunedin at the end of August.

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