Rugby: Highlanders enjoy house warming

SUPER 14
Highlanders 36
Bulls 12

Carisbrook used to be known as the House of Pain and, before the second half of this match, there was an uncomfortable prospect that Palmerston North's ground might be known as the House of Steyn.

It was lack of a crowd and in search of fans that brought the Highlanders to Manawatu in this unusual "home" fixture.

They found both but they also discovered a strong breeze which helped them choke the Bulls in the first half - but which saw Bulls first five-eighths Morne Steyn waiting for the second half to begin.

Steyn is an archetypal South African kicking first five and the prospect of the wind at his back must have felt like it would lend him winged heels as the Bulls contemplated a 21-5 halftime deficit.

The tactics seemed obvious - kick for position and use the Bulls' renowned chasers to force the errors and build up their own scoreline.

Instead, the Highlanders turned it on.

The forwards - lock Tom Donnelly and flanker Adam Thompson, the best Highlander of the day along with All Black halfback Jimmy Cowan - produced a series of quick-flick passes from a ruck. Winger Ben Smith burst through, prop Jamie Mackintosh headed for the line like a runaway Massey Ferguson and, from the resulting ruck, first five-eighths Matt Berquist had the try under the bar for a 28-5 lead, made into 31-5 by a Berquist penalty soon after.

For a while, it seemed like seven-point tries between the posts were the Highlanders' exclusive scoring method. In the first half, playing with the wind at their backs - and the Bulls' usual kick-and-chase tactics thus made more difficult - they started with an air of confidence not previously associated with this team.

With Mackintosh back, they fielded their biggest pack this season and took it to the big Bulls unit.

Jason Shoemark scored under the bar after good lead-up work by Cowan and flanker Alando Soakai, battling through the phases and finished with a pirouette and an extravagant dummy by Shoemark which bamboozled Bulls halfback Fourie du Preez.

However, the man who is the best halfback in world rugby right now didn't enjoy being burned like a boerewors at a braai and he hit back straight away. From a penalty, du Preez took advantage of the sudden outbreak of narcolepsy among the Highlanders, most of whom assumed the kick at goal would be taken.

Instead, du Preez squirted away and ran in new winger Gerhard van den Heever for his first Super 14 try and it must have felt like taking candy from a baby. The phrase "schoolboy error" doesn't quite cover it; schoolboys would never have been that remiss.

Woken from their dream, the Highlanders then hitched up their trousers and rumbled through the Bulls half, sparked by a catch, kick and re-gather from their fine fullback, Israel Dagg.

Then they repeated the process - winning possession, keeping it, rumbling and rumbling further until Cowan darted over for the third try.

Steyn did have a bit of a say after 55 minutes, slipping over for a try after concerted pressure by the Bulls pack - doing to the Highlanders what had been done to them.

That made it 31-12 and, although second five-eighths Wynand Olivier was the most penetrative back on display, the Bulls couldn't take their chances - as when they were hot on attack with 10 minutes to go, only for Hayden Triggs, a local boy, to steal the lineout and relieve the pressure.

For the Highlanders, Cowan and Thomson were by quite some distance the best on the field. Thomson was terrific running with the ball, on the tackle and in the rucks where he burgled turnovers all day and the Highlanders were so good at the breakdown that they kept the Bulls pack, Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw, Pierre Spies and all, quiet.

Hooker David Hall and Donnelly also had strong games as did Dagg, who appeals more and more as a candidate for the next level of rugby as he performs the basics well and has a good creative streak, finishing the match with a try as he nestled in the dark depths of an attacking ruck.

This is a different Highlanders team now.

They have some of their big boys back and their depth is much-improved, with bench talent like Chris King, Josh Bekhuis, Steven Setephano and Fetu'u Vainikolo genuinely adding to matters.

Highlanders 36 (J. Shoemark, D. Bowden, J. Cowan, M. Berquist, I. Dagg tries; Berquist 4 con, pen); Bulls 12 (G. van den Heever, M. Steyn tries; Steyn con). Halftime: 21-5.