Highlanders take cake in Wellington
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The Highlanders held out to beat the Hurricanes 21-14 in Wellington to claim their first Super Rugby title.
The visitors outscored the Hurricanes by two tries to one in a gripping final which was in the balance right until the end.
The historic first title for the Highlanders was only the fifth time in the 20-year history of Super Rugby that the home team has been beaten in the final.
The composite team from the south, with co-captain Ben Smith the only member born in the Highlanders catchment area, ventured north to the Hurricanes Westpac Stadium and scored two tries to one.
From the opening three minutes of helter-skelter rugby, which ended with a penalty to Lima Sopoaga to open the scoring for the Highlanders, to a final drop goal by Marty Banks, the game was played at a relentless pace.
It was a game packed with emotion with neither side having previously won the championship.
The Hurricanes, pacesetters all year, were also farewelling a band of senior players including All Blacks Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Ben Franks and Jeremy Thrush.
They played with the initials JC stitched on their jerseys in memory of former teammate Jerry Collins who was recently killed in a car accident in France.
Fielding 10 players with Test experience, the Hurricanes dominated territory and possession only to be outplayed by a Highlanders unit, with only three experienced All Blacks, who belied their reputation as a team of unwanted nobodies.
Sopoaga moved to the Highlanders from Wellington to escape the shadow of Beauden Barrett, and Banks, who sealed the outcome at the end when the Canes had closed to within four points, is another Hurricanes reject.
Elliot Dixon, who scored a crucial try on half-time to put the Highlanders ahead 13-5, joined the franchise from the Crusaders who were stacked with All Blacks loose forwards.
Dixon again featured after the resumption of play when he drew two defenders to put Waisake Naholo over. Naholo, the top try scorer in the competition his year signed up for the Highlanders after being rejected by the Blues
Ma'a Nonu scored the Hurricanes sole try in the 35th minute but after that they were never to breach the Highlanders defence with Barrett providing the rest of their points from three penalties.
Man of the match: For the Hurricanes TJ Perenara was a constant threat and Ma'a Nonu showed his class when given the chance. For the Highlanders Waisake Naholo showed his devastating finishing ability and Aaron Smith controlled the game well but the stand-out performance was from flank Elliot Dixon who was absolutely everywhere and made some crucial contributions throughout the match.
The scorers:
For Hurricanes:
Try: Nonu
Pens: Barrett 3
For Highlanders:
Tries: Dixon, Naholo
Con: Sopoaga
Pens: Sopoaga 2
DG: Banks
Teams:
Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith (captain), 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Callum Gibbins, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Reggie Goodes.
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Blade Thomson, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Rey Lee-Lo, 23 Matt Proctor.
Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith (co-captain), 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Richard Buckman, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu (co-captain), 7 James Lentjes, 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Mark Reddish, 4 Alex Ainley, 3 Josh Hohneck, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Brendon Edmonds.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Joe Wheeler, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Shane Christie, 22 Fumiaki Tanaka, 23 Marty Banks.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Craig Joubert (South Africa)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand
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