Highlanders vs. Brumbies - Live Blog followed by articles & analysis

 JW Wots a "zumalasis " 

 A typo Wardad, but Zuma... must be some sort of corrupt SA analysis

 Cloudy the Chiefs are awesomely able to affect games even when not playing !

 The saffa ed dont like 'ana.lysis"

 Ha ha Cloudy, yes Chiefs are on my mind, lol

Ou Maak and his  'ana.lysis" of Kiwi teams chances of winning this weekend 100% wrong thus far .If he says we are going to lose its almost talismanic eh ?

 Brumbies on attacks same old play, phase after phase. Landers defence being tested again. Forward pass Brumbies. 79 mins 28 gone.

 Yee haaa the Highlanda !

 Gotta go for a sec and make a pie in the shape of an enormous pie !Mrs Miggins pie shop not open ...

Landers kick it out of bounds. Very good win for the Landers, wasn't sure they could do it but defence kept them in the game until they got their chances. Strategy of conceding rucks & mauls but keeping a complete defensive line worked.
Congrats to the Landers, well played Brumbies

 Thanks for joining me Cloudy & Wardad, see you later.

 Highlanders tackle their way to winby Kris Shannon NZ Herald

After losing their last two games by a combined two points, the Highlanders would have taken this one however they could.

Which was a handy mindset to possess on a wet night in Invercargill, because their win over the Brumbies was far from pretty.

Two sides who only a few weeks ago appeared playoff certainties showed plenty of determination and desperation as they sought a slump-busting victory, yet those qualities rarely equated to an appealing product.

For the Highlanders, that mattered little, having in the last fortnight been upset by the Reds and the Sharks. They found a result that kept them on the heels of the pace-setters in the Kiwi conference, with a chance to further close that gap when they head to Hamilton to tackle the Chiefs on Friday.

For the Brumbies, it was a difficult end to a tumultuous week. Title favourites before being thumped by the Chiefs and Crusaders in the space of three games, the Australian side slipped further down the overall ladder, unable to produce a positive performance to wrestle attention away from a back-room fight that this week spread to the playing squad.

But they came awful close. Lacking a clinical edge and confronted with a defensive effort that showed why the Highlanders came into the contest boasting the third-best defence in the competition, the Brumbies somehow squandered both better field position and a huge weight of possession.

The visitors ended the game having racked up almost five times as many rucks and mauls as their opposition, leaving the Highlanders surely feeling a little sheepish as they emerged on top.

Jamie Joseph would have been thrilled with his side's composure in defence - and perhaps little else. They tackled brilliantly as a team, moving well to fill every gap and hitting hard to earn ascendancy in the contact, while the tireless efforts of their forwards belied the amount of work they were made to do.

It was a good thing the Highlanders were so effective in defence, given they were far less competent when they it was their turn with the ball. An inability to cope with the conditions rendered their running game impotent and, when attempting to attack around the edges and build through phases, unforced errors saw the ball turned over with far too much frequency.

But the boot of Lima Sopoaga was steady throughout the game and, on a couple of occasions, the Highlanders did burst to life with ball in hand. Malakai Fekitoa's burst to create Ben Smith's try early in the second spell was a run fit to grace any match and Sopoaga's opener on the other side of the halftime break showed the invention and vision the Brumbies were missing.

Unlike their opposition, the visitors were successful in their search for a level of ball retention to pile on the pressure, pushing and probing at the Highlanders' defence but struggling throughout to find penetration. Despite their workload, the Highlanders just kept on tackling, ensuring there would have been some sore bodies but a huge amount of satisfaction when the final whistle blew.

Highlanders 23 (L. Sopoaga, B. Smith tries; L. Sopoaga 2 cons, 3 pens)
Brumbies 10 (J. Mann-Rea try; C. Lealiifano pen, con)
Halftime: 7-3

 Yes, my take on the game was Landers decided to forgo battling for ball in the rucks & mauls so as to have more players to defend. This worked for them as although the Brumbies had an incredible amount of ball & field possession they were unable to covert this into points very often.
9 and 10 played well for the Landers, B. Smith was kept quiet for most of the game as the Brumbies wouldn't kick to him - smart. Fekitoa was strong on defence & made a key break to free B. Smith to score a vital try.
Landers scrum was very solid.

 JW who in the blue blazing ars,eholes had the Brumpties as title favourite ? Did someone embiggen the Aussies wee heads with visions of glory ?

 Wardad, yes, title favorites might have been a little ambitious but they were expected to easily top the Oz table. Don't look too good now but neither do the tahs. Ozzzzzzies are sleeping through the comp so far, lol but long way to go.
Miss that Ozzy bloke that used to post on here went by the name of Claydog if I remember correctly, he was a decent sort.

 Highlanders bounce back Article by Rugby stuff

 HIGHLANDERS RACE BACK INTO CONTENTIONRugby 365

REPORT: THE HIGHLANDERS RACED BACK INTO PLAY-OFF CONTENTION WITH A HARD-EARNED 23-10 WIN OVER THE BRUMBIES IN INVERCARGILL ON SATURDAY.

The two tries to one win by the Highlanders - which left the Brumbies empty handed and slipping further behind the tournament pace-setters - came after two consecutive defeats.

Lima Sopoaga scored 18 of the Highlanders' points - including three vital penalties late in the game.

The Highlanders, who dealt with the rainy conditions far better than the visitors, the win was a result of resolute defence and occasional moments of brilliance.

The Highlanders were forced to make 160 tackles to 37 for the Brumbies, who won the rucks and maul count 145-38.

"In that first half the Brumbies had a lot of momentum, but couldn't turn it into points. Our defence was really good and we managed to keep them out," Highlanders Skipper Ben Smith said.

"What we pride ourselves on is our defence and being able to work really hard for each other and get to the spots we need our mates to get to."

Both sides entered the clash at Super Rugby's southern-most outpost desperate to snap out of mid-season slumps.

The defending champion Highlanders had fallen off the pace with losses to the Reds and Sharks in their last two matches, while the Brumbies slipped to second in the Australian conference when beaten by the Crusaders last week.

Despite the slippery ball resulting in handling errors, there was a willingness to play at pace although points were not easy to come by in the tight first half.

The Brumbies, having tried and failed with three line-out drives when Sam Carter was penalised each time for obstruction, hit the front 3-0 with a Christian Lealiifano penalty after 15 minutes.

It was not until the stroke of half-time that the Highlanders turned the scoreboard to go into the break with a 7-3 lead.

A well-weighted Ben Smith kick forced the Brumbies onto their own line where they conceded a five-metre scrum and a long Aaron Smith pass put Sopoaga outside three defenders and he crossed unopposed for the try.

Ben Smith stretched the lead to 14-3 early in the second half touching down after Malakai Fekitoa bumped off an attempted Tevita Kuridrani tackle.

But the Brumbies were not done and found the answer to their rolling maul woes was to throw to Carter in the line-out rather than use him as a block and the big lock duly obliged by winning the ball for hooker Josh Mann-Rea to score.

At 14-10 to the Highlanders with 30 minutes to play the outcome was in the balance before a succession of infringements by the Brumbies allowed Sopoaga to stretch the difference to a comfortable margin.

Man of the match: Tomas Cubelli has certainly grown into his role as the Brumbies' link-man behind the pack, Scott Fardy was as busy as ever and Josh Mann-Rea had one of his best games. However, the influence of David Pocock - after his return from suspension - was undeniable. You never have to look much further than the Smiths - Ben and Aaron - to see value in a Highlanders performance. Liam Squire and Shane Christie also put in their usual workman-like performances. Dan Pryor also made an immediate impact after coming on as a second-half replacement. However, the crucial plays all came from Highlanders flyhalf Lima Sopoaga - which is why he wins our award.

The scorers:

For the Highlanders:
Tries: Sopoaga, B Smith
Cons: Sopoaga 2
Pens: Sopoaga 2

For the Brumbies:
Try: Mann-Rea
Con: Lealiifano
Pen: Lealiifano

Yellow card: Jack Wilson (Highlanders, 11 - foul play, high tackle)

 Landers didnt exactly cruise it in but they did break their bad run.