Highlanders edge Reds 18-15 after late Lima Sopoaga penalty goal
Highlanders lock Jackson Hemopo carts the ball forward against the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday night.
Ugly and unconvincing. It doesn't matter, the Highlanders will take it.
A difficult week, which started with them losing head coach Aaron Mauger for "family reasons", ended with Lima Sopoaga kicking them to an 18-15 win against the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday night.
It was their first win in the Australian city since 2005, their first ever at Suncorp Stadium, and ensured they bounced back from last week's humiliating 41-12 loss to the Waratahs in Sydney.
Highlanders centre Rob Thompson breaks a tackle against the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday night.
Locked at 15-15 with time ticking down, Sopoaga slotted an easy match-winning penalty goal three minutes from time, after Reds lock Izack Rodda was penalised for a high tackle.
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Considering they didn't have four All Blacks - Ben Smith, Luke Whitelock, Shannon Frizell and Liam Coltman - interim head coach Mark Hammett should take extra satisfaction from the result.
Reds halfback Ben Lucas fires a pass against the Highlanders.
Sure, it wasn't a flash performance and, quite frankly, they looked zapped - much like a team which has played with little ball all season and tackled themselves to a standstill.
But a win is a win, and the Highlanders' eighth of the season ensures the third-placed Chiefs in the New Zealand conference are only a point clear of them.
Those who sat through the earlier match between the Chiefs and Waratahs and were hoping for a double dose of quality rugby, would have been bitterly disappointed.
Reds coach Brad Thorn watches his team warm up ahead of Saturday night's match against the Highlanders in Brisbane.
Heck, it was so dour they might have even opted for repeats of Country Calendar before the first half ended, something Reds coach Brad Thorn backed up when he described the first half hour of the match as "painful".
Quite simply, intensity was lacking, both sides lacked direction with ball in hand, and anymore handling errors than there were and the few people who did turn up to Suncorp Stadium would have been justified in requesting a refund.
At one stage, it appeared as if the highlight of the first half was going to be a 60m clearance kick from Highlanders first-five Lima Sopoaga.
Fortunately, Highlanders wing Tevita Li, back in the starting side after recovering from an ankle injury, got his hands on the ball in the 27th minute, shook off opposite Izaia Perese and slammed the ball down inside the corner flag.
It followed a disallowed try to lock Jackson Hemopo, who grounded the ball over the line with a second movement, and gave the Highlanders an 8-3 lead.
But it was the home side which took a 10-8 lead into the sheds, after powerful hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa got over the line a minute before the break.
He deserved it, considering he helped his team bulldoze the Highlanders' scrum moments earlier, and for the second time in the space of five minutes.
The home side's two-point lead became seven within five minutes of play resuming, when fullback Hamish Stewart got on the board.
It was a beauty, because of Samu Kerevi's sweet pass to Stewart, and the 19 phases before it.
The Highlanders had seen enough.
All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith replaced a banged up Kayne Hammington and all of a sudden they had some spark.
Loose forward Liam Squire, playing his first game since he broke his thumb in March, was forced into action in the 30th minute after James Lentjes left the field with concussion.
And it was Squire who ensured the Highlanders drew level with 20 minutes to play, after he took an inside pass from Sopoaga and barrelled over the line.
The Reds won't just rue their inability to kick on and win a match they led 15-8 early in the second half, there was also a missed penalty and conversion from first-five Jono Lance.
Highlanders 18 (Tevita Li, Liam Squire tries; Lima Sopoaga 2 pen, con) Reds 15 (Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Hamish Stewart tries; Jono Lance pen, con) HT: 8-10
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