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Crusading in vain Highlanders win battle of the South
Posted: Friday April 09, 1999 03:35 PM
DUNEDIN, New Zealand (Reuters) -- The Otago Highlanders proved themselves the masters of South Island when they toppled the Super 12 champions Canterbury Crusaders 23-6 on Friday. The Highlanders now have an eight-point lead in the competition, at least until the Queensland Reds play bottom-placed Northern Bulls in South Africa tomorrow. It was an outstanding performance by the Highlanders, who would have been disappointed with their 13-3 halftime advantage. They played with a stiff wind at their backs in the first half and squandered many opportunities with errors at crucial times that lost them possession. But the Highlanders' second half effort was superb. They spent long periods on defense as the Crusaders threw everything at them, but held firm. In fact the Crusaders made only one break in the second half, when Leon MacDonald was held up as he went over the line. The rest of the time the men from Canterbury ran up against the solid wall of Otago defense. In the first half Tony Brown and Andrew Mehrtens had exchanged penalties before a brilliant, lightning fast Highlanders' backline move with the pivotal Brown doubling back and unloading in rapid succession to Pita Alatini who in turn sent Romi Ropati over the tryline near the posts. It was the sort of move that seldom comes off in practice, let alone in the heat of battle, but it worked superbly. Brown converted and then coolly dropped a goal five minutes from the break to give Otago their tenuous 10-point advantage. The second half started with fine breaks by Jeff Wilson and Brown, which the Highlanders failed to capitalize on and Mehrtens narrowed the gap with his second penalty goal for the Crusaders. Then Alatini made a fine break through the Crusaders' defense, showed composure when tackled by managing to offload to Brown who passed inside for Brian Lima to race to the line. Brown converted and then increased the Crusaders' agony with a finely judged penalty goal into the tricky wind with nine minutes left. The Crusaders tried everything to break down the Otago defense, but on the night their swords were severely blunted by the tenacious Highlanders. The Highlanders' victory would have enhanced the All Black claims of scrum-half Byron Kelleher, who played well opposite All Black Justin Marshall. And Taine Randell, an embattled All Black captain last season who has failed to fire in 1999, regained favoritism despite arguably his biggest competitor for the job, Canterbury skipper Todd Blackadder, having a solid game for the losers.
Otago Highlanders15-Jeff Wilson, 14-Brendan Laney, 13-Romi Ropati, 12-Pita Alatini, 11-Brian Lima, 10-Tony Brown, 9-Byron Kelleher, 8-Isitolo Maka, 7-Josh Kronfeld, 6-Taine Randell (captain), 5-John Blaikie, 4-Brendon Timmins, 3-Kees Meeuws (21-Joe McDonnell), 2-Anton Oliver, 1-Carl Hoeft.Canterbury Crusaders15-Daryl Lilley (16-Leon MacDonald), 14-James Kerr, 13-Caleb Ralph, 12-Mark Mayerhofler, 11-Afato So'oala (17-Norman Berryman), 10-Andrew Mehrtens, 9-Justin Marshall, 8-Steve Surridge (22-Clark McLeod), 7-Angus Gardiner, 6-Reuben Thorne (21-Scott Robertson), 5-Steve Lancaster, 4-Todd Blackadder (captain) 3-Con Barrell (20-Greg Somerville), 2-Mark Hammett, 1-Greg Feek.
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