Replacements cover themselves in glory


Bonus point...Highlanders centre Ryan Nicholas dives for the fourth try against the Reds on Saturday night. Glenn Pancho is too late to stop him.

By Brent Edwards
They deserved the standing ovation. The Highlanders, beset by injuries, unleashed their most commanding forward display of the season to beat the Queensland Reds 40-26 at Carisbrook on Saturday night.

In a memorable display of technical efficiency and sheer guts, the Highlanders outmuscled the Reds pack to clinch a Super 12 semifinal berth for the fourth time in five years. Already without Tony Brown, the Highlanders lost Anton Oliver and Byron Kelleher with injuries during the game and it was left to their comparatively inexperienced replacements to man the barricades. They did with an aplomb which had coaches Laurie Mains and Greg Cooper nodding their heads in approval.

Willie Walker controlled play intelligently from first five-eighth and kicked 20 points, Tom Willis quickly became immersed in the efficient, highly-charged pack and David Gibson cleared the ball quickly and accurately from halfback. And Seilala Mapusua, with his first touch of the ball when he replaced Romi Ropati, made a brilliant catch of a high kick from Jeff Wilson to set up a bonus-point try for Ryan Nicholas. So the Highlanders left Carisbrook with the applause of the ecstatic fans ringing in their ears after remaining unbeaten at the ground for the 15th consecutive game and the third consecutive year.

The Reds boast arguably the most lethal back four of the competition and there were early alarms when fullback Chris Latham squeezed through a gap for the first try. But, by the time Latham scored his second - and his 10th of the season - the game was almost beyond the Reds' reach.

The magnificent Highlanders pack dominated for large chunks of the game and, when the Reds did have the ball, they were confronted by a suffocating defence. Mains, not one to chuck compliments around, observed: "We couldn't really have asked our forwards to have played better. They were outstanding. Everyone stepped up that little bit."

Oliver was inspirational before his devastating injury, the set pieces were authorita- tive and the forwards hunted as a pack and ploughed into their tackles. Simon Maling made 16 line-out takes and he and fellow lock Filipo Levi, all muscular aggression, played the games of their lives. Kelvin Middleton thudded into tackles and tacklers, Craig Newby continues to develop as a classy openside flanker and Taine Randell, had there been a man of the match award, would have been a foremost contender. His marshalling of the defence and his speed and intelligence with the ball in hand gave the Highlanders a dimension the Reds lacked.It was Randell who finally cracked the Reds defence - his first try of the season - 4min before half-time when he finished off six phases by surging through the tackles of Jacob Raulini and John Roe.

The Highlanders wanted a try early in the second spell and it duly came, scored by Newby after the two locks, Maling and Levi, had softened up the defence. Eight minutes later, from another series of phases, second five-eighth Paul Steinmetz sprinted over in the Rose Stand corner.

Walker kept banging over the penalties when the Reds infringed within kicking distance and, while the Reds threatened at times, the Highlanders displayed admirable composure. When Gibson booted the ball into touch from a line-out to the sound of the final hooter, the Highlanders raised their arms in triumph and the fans roared their delight. They had not won a title, but they had won an important battle for New Zealand rugby and, in doing so, they had kept alive the legend of the House of Pain.

Queensland took a buffeting in the forwards, of whom Mark Connors was the most enduring, and the Highlanders pressured halfback Rauluni. Elton Flatley kicked immaculately and Daniel Herbert made a couple of strong dabs from centre, but there were few gaps in the swarming Highlanders' defence.

It was a quality game between two quality teams but the desperation of the Highlanders was the decisive factor. They earned every decibel of the applause they received.

Highlanders 40 (Taine Randell, Craig Newby, Paul Steinmetz, Ryan Nicholas tries, Willie Walker 1 conversion, 6 penalty goals); Qeensland Reds 26 (Chris Latham 2 tries, Elton Flatley 2 conversions, 4 penalty goals).

Match statistics: Line-outs, Highlanders 22-9; rucks and mauls, Highlanders, 59-47; penalties, Highlanders, 13-10. Kicking: Walker, 7-11; Flatley, 6-6. Half-time: Highlanders, 19-13. Crowd: 27,000. Referee: Andre Watson (South Africa).