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The forgotten Highlanders star who could help offset the Blues' enormous forward pack

By Alex McLeod
(Photo by Teaukura Moetaua/Getty Images)

The Highlanders know what they are going to get when they square off against the Blues at Eden Park on Sunday.

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The Auckland franchise have an enormous forward pack capable of powering their way to victory, and their opponents this weekend have been vocal about that threat the hosts pose.

Earlier this week, Highlanders assistant coach Clarke Dermody compared the Blues’ forwards to that of a South African pack as an indication of how big they are.

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“It’s like preparing for a South African team without the South Africans in the competition,” he said on Wednesday.

“They’re a massive pack, [they do] a lot of kicking. Our challenge is to match them up-front and not get drawn into that game. They want to be walking from set-piece to set-piece, so we’ll try to speed the game up.”

Highlanders head coach Tony Brown reciprocated Dermody’s assertions on Friday in the wake of his team announcement, which has seen seven new players come into the starting lineup.

Of those seven, one could play a particularly important role in matching the Blues in terms of physicality and size.

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That player, James Lentjes, has also become somewhat of a forgotten figure for those outside of the Highlanders environment, given he has been absent for little more than a year now after suffering a horror leg and ankle injury against the Rebels last February.

He has recovered fully, though, and is primed to make his first appearance in a competition match – he scored a brace off the bench in a pre-season clash against the Hurricanes – since that fixture.

In doing so, he replaces new Crusaders recruit Billy Harmon, who has demoted to the bench, but Lentjes brings with him extra size that could be crucial to combatting the brute force the Blues are expected to enforce on the Highlanders.

“Obviously it’s been over a year since he’s had a game at this level, so he’s really keen. He’s trained really well. He’s a bit bigger than last year, so we’re looking for a bit of physicality early on,” Brown said.

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“He just had a year to rehab and a year of training, so he got in there and got a bit of extra muscle on, just to prepare his body as best he could.”

That extra muscle has seen Lentjes bulk up to over 110kg, which should allow him to pack more of a punch in the collision zone.

Likewise, the positional switch of Connor Garden-Bachop to fullback and Ngatungane Punivai to the wing to allow Michael Collins into the midfield should give the Highlanders an extra physical edge out wide.

“I just think bringing Mike in and moving Ngane Punivai to the wing allows us to be a bit more of a physical presence out in the width. Connor’s played pretty well the last two weeks so looking forward to a big performance at fullback,” Brown said.

However, Brown hinted he wants his side to steer away from the contact zone as a method of running the Blues’ big men off the park.

“They’re a very physical side. They like the game slow and lots of set pieces, lots of kicking game, so we need to speed the game up and take them on that way.”

Elsewhere, eight-test All Blacks hooker Liam Coltman has come into the starting side for the first time this season at the expense of co-captain Ash Dixon, while Manaaki Selby-Rickit starts at lock in place of Irish second rower Jack Regan.

“Just an opportunity to give Colty a start at hooker. Ash has had a big workload so far, so getting Colty in there, fresh legs, is going to be important at the start of the game,” Brown said.

“Bringing Manaaki in as well at lock. Taking a bit of heat off Jack Regan. He’s done a great job for us, but time for Manaaki to get an opportunity and see what he can deliver.”

As for Liam Squire, the returning All Blacks loose forward who has featured off the bench in the first two Highlanders matches this year, Brown said his absence from the match day side came down to managing his game time after a year with minimal action.

“We’re just managing Liam. We’ve always had a plan to manage him through the early part of the season. Pretty happy with how he’s going. Just an opportunity to bring Jimmy in and to give Liam a little bit of a rest.”

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J
Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

34 Go to comments
A
Adrian 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

34 Go to comments
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