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Highlanders stay patient to beat Blues 25-13

The Otago Highlanders put their first points on the Super 14 rugby table here yesterday when they exposed weaknesses in the highly rated Auckland Blues attack with a 25-13 victory.

Patience was key for the Highlanders as the Blues, with nine All Blacks in the side, started with a roar but faded to a whimper for the second week in a row.

The canny Highlanders had only 40 percent possession but waited for mistakes to occur. The Blues backs lacked penetration, the forwards gave up five lineouts against the throw, and they lost 17 turnovers.

The game was only six minutes old when Nick Williams scored the first try for the Blues but that was to be the only time they crossed the Highlanders' line, as the southerners slowly worked their way into the game.

By fulltime the Highlanders had three tries including one when reduced to 14 men after winger Roy Kinikinilau was sent to the sin-bin.

The win lifted the Highlanders off the bottom of the table while the Blues remain firmly at the bottom looking far from impressive.

Their backs lack a line breaker and the forwards failed to impose themselves on a spirited Highlanders eight in which captain Anton Oliver, loose forwards Craig Newby and Josh Blackie were prominent.

Lock James Ryan had an outstanding game, stealing lineouts from his senior All Blacks teammate Ali Williams, just as he did against Chris Jack in the Crusaders match last week.

The game was riddled with handling errors and referee Chris Pollock, controlling his first Super series match, appeared to have trouble policing the front rows, which included five seasoned All Blacks.

After Williams' try off the end of a 75m counter attack sparked by Joe Rokocoko, the pendulum slowly swung the Highlanders' way.

Nick Evans put their first points on the board with a penalty in the 20th minute, then converted Tom Donnelly's try five minutes later from a move which started after yet another scrum penalty to the Highlanders.

Newby tapped and probed to the right but with no way through, play swung to the left, where Ben Blair found a hole in the Blues backline to send Donnelly over.

Evans and Tasesa Lavea, who took over kicking duties for the Blues when McAlister left the field with a suspected broken cheekbone, exchanged penalties early in the second half to have the Highlanders ahead 13-10.

The game-breaking moment came with 20 minutes left when, with Kinikinilau off the field, Vilimoni Delasau intercepted a loose pass from Anthony Tuitavake and raced 70m to score.

An Evans conversion boosted the margin to 20-10, and although Lavea added another penalty for the Blues they never looked convincing enough to score again.

Kinikinilau scored the final try 10 minutes from time when he beat Doug Howlett in a dive for the ball as it rolled over the line.
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