Highlanders player ratings vs Blues | Super Rugby Pacific
Despite all the talk surrounding the make-up of the Super Rugby Pacific finals, the Highlanders would have entered their quarter-final showdown with the Blues confident they could ruffle a few feathers.
Indeed, the southerners flew out of the blocks early and disrupted the Blues’ attack, frustrating their much more fancied opposition. Up 6-0 through the boot of Marty Banks, things were going as well as could be hoped for the Highlanders – until hooker Andrew Makalio was red-carded for a dangerous tackle.
From that point on, everything went the way of the Blues, with the home side eventually securing a relatively comfortable 35-6 victory at Eden Park.
How did the Highlanders rate in defeat?
1. Ethan de Groot – 7/10
Both an unstoppable force and an immovable object at scrum time. Got the better of All Blacks counterpart Ofa Tuungafasi in the Highlanders’ first scrum of the game then did the same in the first scrum of the second half. On the other side of the ledger, knocked the ball on from one carry and was fended off by Beauden Barrett en route to the Blues’ second try. Wasn’t able to achieve anything with ball in hand but still a strong final performance ahead of the All Blacks squad announcement. Off in 50th minute.
2. Andrew Makalio – 2
Sent off in the 22nd minute for a reckless tackle on Tom Robinson. Was accurate at lineout time in his quarter of action but ultimately cost his side hugely, with the Highlanders conceding two tries in the hooker’s absence – and no doubt expending plenty of energy in the process.
3. Jermaine Ainsley – 6.5
Like De Groot, impressive at the set-piece. Banked one scrum penalty in the second half to help get the Highlanders out of trouble while inside their own 22. Matched the defensive efforts of three of his teammates, recording a game-high 13 tackles on the night. Rarely used as a ball carrier. Accurately delivered one ball into the lineout when the Highlanders had no hookers on the park. Off in 63rd minute.
4. Bryn Evans – 5.5
The number one lineout option for the Highlanders and hit plenty of breakdowns but failed to stamp his mark otherwise. Couldn’t rein in an early kick-off, handing the Blues possession on the Highlanders 22, but did incredibly well to prevent a Blues try early in the second quarter by getting under the ball carrier. Off in 53rd minute.
5. Josh Dickson – 7
One of the Highlanders’ best. Snaffled an intercept from Finlay Christie to snuff out an early Blues attack and then crucially stripped the ball at a maul later in the half to shut down a potential drive just five metres out from the Highlanders line. Copped one penalty but was aggressive on both attack and defence and imposed himself on the match physically.
6. Hugh Renton – 5
Clocked up plenty of metres just running on and off the park. Had to temporarily leave the game when the Highlanders were down to 14 men. Was permanently substituted in the 53rd minute but returned temporarily after Marino Mikaele-Tu’u left the park for an HIA, and then did the same again for Billy Harmon. All of that may well have disrupted his flow, with the Hawke’s Bay flanker failing to have much of an impact on the game – although he did get through plenty of work on defence.
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7. Billy Harmon – 5.5
Strong in the first quarter, ensuring the Blues struggled to get any quick ball at the breakdown, but faded as the Blues built into the game. Grabbed a turnover when the Blues were looking likely but was otherwise relatively subdued. Off in 66th minute after a nasty head clash with Finlay Christie.
8. Marino Mikaele-Tu’u – 7
1/1 lineout. Put his hand up on attack, finishing behind Akira Ioane as the forward with the second-most carries in the match. Ran a great support line off Folau Fakatava and put in a dainty kick to create a scoring chance for his side. With so many All Blacks loose forward incurring injuries recently, his hot form could see him rewarded with a test call up in the coming weeks.
9. Folau Fakatava – 7.5
The best of the Highlanders’ backs. While the Highlanders would have benefited from having the one-two punch of Fakatava and Aaron Smith, Fakatava still did well on his own. One brilliant run from a scrum almost set up a try. Showed off his impressive bag of tricks with some behind-the-back passes and chip kicks and also toiled hard on defence. Penalised once at the breakdown for not releasing the tackled player. Off in 78th minute.
10. Marty Banks – 4
Looked great early doors but made some major errors as the game went on. Kicked a beautiful 50-22 with his first touch of the ball to give the Highlanders some prime attacking ball. Narrowly missed the posts with a snap drop kick when his side were struggling to generate momentum on attack. Raked off plenty of metres with his penalty kicks to the sideline but missed touch in the 35th minute, handing the Blues a counter-attack, and Beauden Barrett found his way over the line moments later. Dropped a high ball in the 58th minute with AJ Lam pouncing to score a try and was at fault for Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s late try too.
11. Mosese Dawai – 3
Failed to make an impact on attack and was found out on defence, with his lack of positional awareness creating a big gap for Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to exploit early in the second half, leading to the Blues’ third try of the night.
12. Scott Gregory – 4
Showed some good aggressive defence early in the piece to disrupt the Blues’ flow but lacked accuracy at times, missing almost as many tackles as he made. Couldn’t penetrate on attack.
13. Thomas Umaga-Jensen – 6
Was a major metre-eater for the Highlanders in the formative stages of the match but looked to have broken his arm in the first half hour – or at least done some serious damage – and left the field in the 33rd minute.
14. Fetuli Paea – 4.5
Barely sighted before shifting into centre after Umaga-Jensen left the match – but still struggled to get his hands on the ball later in the game. Knocked the ball on when a try was on the cards early in the final quarter. Chalked up eight tackles.
15. Connor Garden-Bachop – 4.5
Expertly took two high balls under pressure at the end of the first quarter. Like the rest of his backline, couldn’t really offer too much in the way of incisive attack. Threw one poor pass late in the match to Liam Coombes-Fabling which would have resulted in a try had it gone to hand.
Reserves:
16. Leni Apisai – 6
On in 26th minute due to Makalio’s red card. Generally accurate at lineout time and got around the park well.
17. Daniel Lienert-Brown – 5
On in 50th minute. Industrious on defence and made one great run once the game was well and truly dead and buried.
18. Saula Ma’u – 4
On in 63rd minute. Didn’t make much of a positive impact, losing possession on more than one occasion.
19. Max Hicks – 5.5
On in 53rd minute. Earned one breakdown penalty. Looked good with the ball in hand later in the game.
20. Shannon Frizell – 6
On in 53rd minute. Ran with plenty of intent upon his introduction to the match but struggled against a tidal wave of defenders.
21. Kayne Hammington – N/A
On in 78th minute.
22. Liam Coombes-Fabling – 5
On in 33rd minute. Won his side a penalty at the breakdown with his first involvement of the game. Popped up from time to time on attack but the ball never seemed to fall his way.
23. Denny Solomona – N/A
On in 55th minute. Barely featured.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
29 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments