Highlanders 26
Brumbies 20
Move aside Fitzy. Pen portraits for the Highlanders make no mention of hooker Jason Rutledge playing on the wing.
It was the same with the All Blacks, where Sean Fitzpatrick did all the core work of a hooker and still found space to bang across the chalk for a dozen
tries, many of them deputising out on the flanks. Ditto Rutledge last night in Invercargill as he crossed the chalk twice inside two minutes.
Those gems were priceless, along with bucketloads of Highlanders tenacity as they held out for a courageous 26-20 victory in Invercargill. It was a team victory, a triumph for team spirit, resolve and determination.
The seasoned Rutledge crowned several pieces of stunning action in the first quarter as the Highlanders converted several wondrous breakouts. The core characters were similar.
Wings Siale Piutau and Kade Poki kickstarted the long-range moves, Ben Smith and Jimmy Cowan added some special link work and the 33-year-old Rutledge added the trimmings as he bashed his way across the line in opposite corners of Rugby Park.
Smith, the one-time All Black fullback showed great support to swivel his way past a couple of defenders and hold the ball for the arriving support while Cowan retrieved a loose pass and then put in a perfectly weighted left-foot crosskick for his frontrower buddy.
They were stunning reverses for the Brumbies who began the game with plenty of possession and some sizzling interplay. They used Christian Lealiifano, Matt Giteau, Matt Toomua and Henry Speight as first receivers from phase and setpiece, mixing up their running moves and attacking thrusts.
They looked slick and posed plenty of dilemmas for the hosts.
The Highlanders held firm though, reinforcing the resolve that coach Jamie Joseph has demanded from them in his first season as coach. When they got their chance to attack, they did so with some real venom and enterprise.
Giteau who twittered on pre-game about Invercargill being the Adelaide of New Zealand, scored for the visitors when he got some room and managed to flummox several tight forwards caught out in the defensive line.
What Giteau meant by his Twitter message is unclear but he should remember he is based in Canberra.
He should also look at the scoreboard as the Brumbies fell to their fifth straight defeat.
His opposite last night was Colin Slade, making his first appearance for the Highlanders after breaking his jaw in a pre-season match.
His rugby comeback lasted 44 minutes before he damaged his groin chasing a high kick. Before then Slade had played soundly, looking for space and teammates with some accuracy in a strong start for his new franchise.
The Highlanders got to the break with the scoring advantage but they were under the hammer in the possession statistics. That theme was central to Joseph's halftime pleas. They had to get more ball or risk getting on the wrong side of the result.
Nothing much changed in the third quarter. Giteau and Tony Brown kicked penalties as the Brumbies laid siege to much of the Highlanders defences. They creaked and bent but did not break.
Not till 12 minutes from time when Brown was sinbinned as referee Stu Dickinson took strong exception to him entering a ruck from the side.
The Highlanders were without Cowan and Slade who had gone off injured and then Brown. They had no backline generals left just heaps of grit and the crowning touchdown to skipper Jamie Mackintosh.
