There are only so many times an underrated rugby team can fly under the radar before being sussed out. Some – well, quite a few in Australia actually – thought the Waratahs were clued up to the Highlanders in the semi-final in Sydney last week. The Tahs were just clueless instead. And Super Rugby’s Cinderella team of 2015 did it yet again, this time leaving the defending champions utterly befuddled well before full-time (a controversial penalty try and Jacques Potgeiter yellow card would have made little difference to the final result; the Waratahs were simply outmuscled, outkicked, and outfoxed from start to finish). Indeed, it was as Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said post-match: “It still surprises me, in many ways it seems that we’ve fooled the rugby community, they still don’t quite believe in us, what else can these guys do?”
Well, that tactically astute Highlanders victory might be the last time anyone takes Jamie Joseph’s team anything but seriously. It’s most unlikely the Hurricanes will make the same mistake as the Waratahs in Saturday’s all-New Zealand Super Rugby final at the Cake Tin in Wellington. Finally, the Highlanders look set to get the respect they richly deserve. Unfortunately for them, it will come one week too soon. If Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd and his All Blacks-laden team haven’t rumbled the South Islanders on the radar by now, they quite simply don’t deserve to win a maiden title.
The Highlanders’ so called no name forward pack is one of the best going around. Joseph summed the merits of his pack perfectly: “They aren’t All Blacks, they aren’t Wallabies, they aren’t Springboks but they are very good rugby players.” Indeed, that they are. To be blunt about it, the Highlanders pack demolished the Tahs up front last week. (Consequently, it was no surprise to see Tahs prop Benn Robinson left out of the Wallabies Rugby Championship training squad announced on Thursday. The Highlanders 2015 are the real deal. They have been all along. This column tipped them as a dark horse in the season preview. One cannot ignore the merits of a team with the Smiths, Aaron and Ben, therein.
If anything, it’s the Hurricanes, heavily favoured by the bookies to win on Saturday, who are the ones to have surprised in topping the conference ladder and making the final. This is a franchise that has always had quality players, many of them legendary All Blacks such as Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga, Jonah Lomu, Jerry Collins to name just a few. Yet, historically they have continued to tease their loyal fans with year upon year of undelivered promise and unfulfilled potential. Cursedly, when the Hurricanes’ year did finally look to arrive, they were denied by the weather in the infamous 2006 ‘fog final’ against the Crusaders (the NZ Herald this week published an excellent oral history of that event).
Surely, on form and season-long consistency, this must be the year for the Hurricanes to finally break through for a maiden title. They have a superior side in just about all positions but for half-back and full-back (Aaron and Ben Smith respectively). Beauden Barrett, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Nehe Milner-Skudder, and Julian Savea represent just about an All Black Test backline. And the Hurricanes forwards, especially loosies Victor Vito, Ardie Savea and Brad Shields have been devastating of late. James Broadhurst and Jeremy Thrush in the second row have been right up there too.
If the Hurricanes heed the lessons from the Tahs’ no-show in Sydney, they have the team to end the Highlanders fairy tale. The key for the Hurricanes is to disrupt half-back Aaron Smith. It might be easier said than done. However, slowing down his ball by dominating the collisions with the Highlanders forwards would seem the obvious place to start. Smith is too good to take down as an individual behind a pack holding parity. Shutting down his forwards and giving him poor quality ball from rucks is arguably the only option for a player in his form. The problem, though, is teams have been targeting the Highlanders’ forwards all year. And they haven’t wilted yet. It ought to be a cracking final on Saturday with undoubtedly the competition’s two best teams of 2015.
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