YES! Good win for the Highlanders, fighting back from 9-19 down.
The injuries will be a big worry for the Chiefs - hopefully they aren't as serious as they look. A few other thoughts:
- Brodie Retllick looked solid on debut, particularly in the lineout
- Messem was good at times, but did lose the ball in contact a couple of times
- Lee was good running in midfield
- Leonard was very good before he was injured. Kerr-Barlow looked sharp too when he came on.
- Cruden/SBW/Kahui looked very good. SBW's work at the breakdown was great, while Kahui made some great hits in defence
- Nanai-Williams and Masaga (before injury) looked good. Nanai-Williams is still better of at fullback in my opinion. Surprisingly (for me) Robinson played ok
For the Highlanders:
- Hore was quiet (but did the basics), but Rutledge made a big impact when he came on. I really like Rutledge coming off the bench with 20 mins left.
- Crosswell looked good at lock, and made a number of powerful runs
- Hardie was reasonably good at 7, and Thomson had a strong game at 6 (and was brilliant in the lineout). Manu was quiet in the first-half, but came into his own in the second with his ball running. I was impressed that he started to throw his weight around in defence too.
- Cowan was poor. Aaron Smith was outstanding - the Highlanders attack was so much sharper with him at halfback, as he delivers the ball so quickly and cleanly. I would like to see him start next week.
- Really happy with Noakes' debut. He ran the backline well, made a few good runs himself, and kicked his goals. I hope he can keep in up!
- Ellison was superb at centre - he was solid on defence, and a real threat with ball in hand. He should form a good midfield combo with Treeby when he returns.
- Popoalii looked good on debut, particularly in the first half. Gear was pretty quiet - he looked good when he got the ball, but didn't really go looking for work, and his defence was poor at times. Given the Highlanders lack of physicality in the midfield I hope they start using him to hit the ball up a lot more often (for some reason they were using the midget Popoalii in that role at times!). Ben Smith looked class (as always). He didn't make any clean breaks, but always threatened the line and made a lot of 'half-breaks' and looked rock solid in defence/ under the high ball.