Highlanders on track for worst season

Otago Daily Times

05-05-2025

The good news is the Highlanders should have some cavalry back for the final three rounds of their Super Rugby campaign.
The inescapably frightening news is they could match the worst season in club history.
Not since 1997 — the second year of Super Rugby — have the Highlanders claimed the wooden spoon, but that will be their unfortunate reward if they fail to beat the Hurricanes, Crusaders or Chiefs in their remaining games, and if the Fijian Drua win one of their last three clashes, two of which are at home.
The Highlanders have three wins this season and, if that mark does not change, they will match the record low set by the Landers teams of 1997, 2008, 2010 and 2013.
If that all sounds a bit grim, well, that is the stark reality of life at this level.
The Highlanders have mostly been gutsy battlers since the glorious 2015 championship season and the year after, when they reached the semifinals, but a wooden spoon would be an unpleasant reminder of their place in the Super Rugby ecosystem.
Jamie Joseph did not perform instant miracles in his first stint as Highlanders coach — indeed, his third season, 2013, was apocalyptically bad as a team stacked with international talent would have been wooden spooners if not for the woeful Southern Kings — and he will be given every chance to try to turn things around this time.
Joseph, and Highlanders fans, can lament both injuries that had an out-sized effect on the Highlanders' fortunes and a series of poor decisions by some players whose futures must be unclear.
At least they should be close to full strength after having this week off with the bye.
Co-captain Hugh Renton, whose season has been plagued by groin trouble, and star wingers Caleb Tangitau and Jona Nareki should all be back to play the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Tangitau is the name on everyone's lips, but it is possible the absence of Renton, a late scratching from the Moana Pasifika game on Saturday with his lingering pubis symphysis issue, has been most keenly felt by the Highlanders.
"He's the captain and he provides a lot of confidence for the players, because he leads well during trainings and he's really good in the pressure moments," Joseph said.
"Hugh's got a really bad injury, and he can't play every week. After a game of rugby, he's pretty banged up.
"He trained on Friday afternoon, took a tackle and could hardly walk."
Joseph is remaining upbeat in the face of searching questions around why things have not gone so flash this season.
He felt the Highlanders, lacking the depth of their bigger rivals, battled to navigate eight consecutive weeks of games between their two byes.
"It was quite a tough draw. Eight games in a row, the Australian tour, there were some tight losses.
"Eight games of rugby, when you get injuries, that's a real challenge for the squad. Everyone's getting hit with injuries, but we just don't have the experience or depth of some of the other teams, and we're paying for it."
He was more disappointed for the players than frustrated, Joseph said.
There were clearly lessons to be learned around making smart decisions and executing basic skills under pressure, something highlighted on Sunday as the lineout fell apart and a late chargedown kick handed Moana Pasifika victory.
"It came down to errors. We made more errors.
"It came down to our lineout under pressure — from ourselves, not necessarily from the opposition. There were a lot of overthrows, so that's execution.
"It came down to a moment where we'd actually won the game with two or three minutes to go, and not being able to execute an exit. That's kind of simple, in many ways, but also very difficult when there's big pressure around there."
The lingering memory of the loss will be flying Moana halfback Melani Matavao charging down a laboured Taine Robinson clearing kick then scoring the winning try.
"He'll be feeling it," Joseph said.
"We've got a good team. When that moment happened, he was consoled by quite a few of his team-mates.
"Everyone understands that we have to do it together. It's not up to one person." Highlanders Seasons of Discontent
1997 Last, won 3 of 11 games
2004 Ninth, won 4 and drew 1 of 11 games
2008 11th, won 3 of 13 games
2009 11th, won 4 of 13 games
2010 12th, won 3 of 13 games
2013 14th, won 3 of 16 games
2025 10th, won 3 of 11 games (3 to go)
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