Super 14 weekend preview - Highlanders

HIGHLANDERS v SHARKS
Dunedin, 7.35 tonight

Highlanders rookie Callum Bruce can expect a baptism of fire in his Super 14 run-on debut tonight.

The young first five-eighth has been thrust into the spotlight after No 1 pivot Nick Evans broke a collarbone in last weekend's 23-16 loss to the Bulls in Pretoria.

Evans' misfortune has meant a promotion for Bruce, who made just one NPC appearance for Otago last season.

Highlanders captain Anton Oliver stressed it was up to Bruce's more experienced teammates to help ease his way against the Sharks.

"I can't overstate the fact that Nick's a huge loss - he's an integral part of our team, probably our most influential player," Oliver said.

"That's gonna be a real cruel blow for us - and I don't know how Callum is going to go."

Bruce has minimal Super 14 exposure - appearing for 10 minutes as a substitute against the Stormers and a further 25 minutes against the Bulls.

"He's pretty green," Oliver said, before adding he thought Bruce was a "good player, very tenacious".

"The guys inside and outside him will try and take the pressure off him so he can settle."

Bruce, 22, realises he has some big boots to fill.

"It was pretty disappointing for Nick and the team that he got injured because he's just such a phenomenal player but I've just got to make the most of this opportunity," Bruce said.

Making Bruce's elevation more difficult is the fact he will be marking Tony Brown, a former Otago and Highlanders stalwart who knows every blade of grass at Carisbrook.

Oliver admitted it would be a strange feeling to look across the halfway line and see Brown lining up for the Sharks.

Brown left Otago at the end of the 2004 season for Japan, having played 83 Super 12 matches for the Highlanders and 19 tests for the All Blacks, before being signed by the Sharks.

"It'll be interesting taking on Tony Brown," Oliver said.

"We haven't spoken really about it as a team but I imagine it'll be very strange for me, running out and playing against him on Carisbrook - and it'll probably be equally if not more strange for him [to be back]."

Oliver is not worried by the Brown factor, that he might know Highlanders' secrets.

"He left a wee while ago, so I don't think that'll be a problem.

"We are just approaching this game like any other. We look at the threats and the opportunities and just go from there. If he's a part of that, he's part of that; it's not as if we'll be targeting him specifically."

Meanwhile, lock James Ryan is confident the lineout problems that plagued the Highlanders against the Bulls have been fixed.

"[Bulls lock] Victor Matfield is a world class player, if not the best [lock] in the world, and we probably got dominated there as it was pretty plain to see," Ryan said.

"But you have games like that and the challenge now is that we don't let that become a regular thing.

"We really didn't perform as a full pack as a whole and I don't think it was a technical thing."

The Highlanders would have to be on top of their game in all areas, Ryan said.

Highlanders coach Greg Cooper rewarded Richard Kahui for strong runs off the bench by elevating him to the starting XV at the expense of wing Roy Kinikinilau.

In other changes, prop Nick White goes to the reserves to make way for Clarke Dermody and Hale T-Pole is at blindside flanker in place of Hoani MacDonald.

- NZPA