Highlanders: 'No excuses' against Rebels after hefty Hurricanes loss

The Highlanders have shown moments of immense promise and moments of the same inaccuracy that have left them nearer to the bottom of the table than the top over recent seasons, en route to just two wins from six games so far in 2024.

An unbeaten preseason slate sent expectations skyward for the rebuilding squad, but while they’ve made a fair crack of their season’s schedule to date, the numbers in the loss column aren’t all that flattering.

The team now face a run of three Australian opponents followed by Moana Pasifika after a bye week in round seven.

Sending the team into that bye week was a contest against an unbeaten Hurricanes outfit in a rich vein of form, who subjected the Southerners to a miserable 47-12 thumping.

Coming off the back of that result, the team is hungry for improvement.

“There were some tough games, but we’ve got to be better than our last performance,” Highlanders assistant coach Dave Dillon told media ahead of the trip to Melbourne to face the Rebels.

“Our mindset is on moving forward, getting a good week’s training here, and heading to Melbourne.

“The Rebels have faced some adversity regarding their future. They had a good win over the Drua in front of their crowd over the weekend. They managed to put together back-to-back moments and get the results.

“They are a good side, well-coached and with good balance. We’ve just got to get our game sorted, which we’re working on this week.

“We’re always looking for opportunities in how to be better. We were pretty disappointed with what happened against the ‘Canes. There are no excuses. We’ve just got to get into this week.

“It was important after the ‘Canes game to narrow down a few critical things, roll up the sleeves, and get into it.

“Everyone was pretty excited about being back into it. There was an air of disappointment about that result, particularly being at home. We’d been pretty good leading into it. But that’s the nature of high-performance sport.

“We’ve got an opportunity to put it right this week.”

The Highlanders have experienced plenty of disruptions through injuries and bans thus far in the campaign but will be hoping for a smoother run in the season’s second half.

Despite that, the current eighth-place seeding places the team in a quarter-final birth and a win in Melbourne would go a long way in helping gain some separation over teams below them.

Dillon said the bye week had offered an opportunity for the players and staff to spend extended time with family and reset for the upcoming run of fixtures.