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Tonight the Highlanders play the Hurricanes at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin. Join us for live scores from 5.30pm AEDT.
Last week at home the Highlanders made a hash of it and lost 36-19 to a spirited and highly effective Cheetahs outfit.
This is only the second time the Cheetahs have won in New Zealand.
The home team had all the major stats in attack; metres gained, carries, defenders beaten, offloads; yet the Cheetahs boot made the difference with Johan Goosen’s eight points proving the difference on the scoreboard.
Clearly CVs don’t win you games, and it appears the nice guys of New Zealand rugby won’t be gifted any in 2013.
In prior campaigns, southern fans may have forgiven their men for losing.
Perhaps there’ll be less tolerance this year as the Highlanders boast a seriously powerful lineup including Tony Woodcock, Andrew Hore, Josh Bekhuis, Brad Thorn, Aaron Smith, Kade Poki, Ben Smith, Hosea Gear, and another All Black with the return of Colin Slade.
Against the Cheetahs Kade Poki was the pick of the bunch and will want to lead by example tonight against a homicidal Hurricanes team bent on smashing and crashing their way to a title.
Last week the men from Wellington played brilliantly to hold out the Crusaders in another hot kiwi derby.
Julian Savea delivered a remarkable performance, at one point steamrolling Israel Dagg to score a try.
It was a pure Jonah Lomu moment and made the world’s best fullback look like a turtle; put on his back, arms and legs waving fuiously in the air as he met the earth.
Slow-mo wasn’t a good look for the tackler.
That said, Israel Dagg was back to his best with the ball and scored a scintillating try, dribbling the ball at full speed in a display of skills that Cristiano Ronaldo could only dream of.
The Hurricanes have a slight head to head advantage over the Highlanders, but don’t expect it to count for much as this is a whole new team from the South and back in their new stadium where they seem to be most comfortable.
Expect a tight game and at least six tries.
Join us at 5.30pm AEDT tonight on The Roar, the place to be for live scores and where you can have your say on the go.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.