Highlanders hand Hurricanes second straight defeat before June break
Liam Squire was carded, but Julian Savea was potentially spared by a lack of video evidence.
Home, sweet home. Can anybody beat the Highlanders under the roof?
The error-ridden Hurricanes certainly couldn't on Friday night, going down 30-14 at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium, the Highlanders' 12th straight scalp under the lid.
Not since the Crusaders knocked them over early last season have they lost at home, and their latest win landed a serious body blow to the Hurricanes' chances of winning the New Zealand conference.
Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith dives over for second half try as the hosts took charge of Friday's match in Dunedin.
Their second straight loss leading into the June test window means the Crusaders can go a long way to clinching the conference when they play the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday night.
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As for the Highlanders, don't sleep on them.
Outscoring the Hurricanes four tries to two in the teams' final match before the June test window improved their record to 9-4 with 40 points, just five less than the second-placed men from the capital.
Those expecting a free-flowing game will be disappointed. But that's not to say it wasn't a decent game of code.
It certainly had drama, no more so than late in the first half when a couple of scuffles broke out either side of a disallowed try to Hurricanes centre Jordie Barrett.
The Highlanders celebrate Aaron Smith's second half try against the Hurricanes.
Everyone was fired up when Highlanders flanker Liam Squire's swinging arm collected Hurricanes wing Julian Savea's head, including the big man himself.
He got up and appeared to throw a punch at Squire in the ruck, and should count his lucky stars there wasn't a decent camera angle of the incident when TMO Aaron Paterson reviewed the incident.
So Squire was yellow carded, Savea survived, and they didn't bother checking if Barrett's try was legit.
For the record, multiple phases after the scuffle, Barrett, not long after it appeared as if he had suffered a serious knee injury, scooped up a loose ball and scampered under the posts.
Hurricanes wing Julian Savea offloads as he's tackled by Highlanders flanker Liam Squire at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
There was more drama to come.
First another scuffle, then a ridiculous passage of play which ended with Highlanders wing Tevita Li scoring five minutes after the halftime hooter had sounded.
The Highlanders, with Squire in the bin, would have been forgiven for kicking the ball out and going to the sheds when Lima Sopoaga collected a ball inside his own 22.
But he wasn't having any of it. He fed wing Waisake Naholo and the Highlanders quickly found themselves peppering the Hurricanes' line.
Highlanders No 8 Luke Whitelock, centre, is confronted by Hurricanes duo Ardie Savea and Brad Shields.
Following a quick tap, lock Jackson Hemopo flicked an inside ball to Li to score and the Highlanders, almost an hour after the game kicked off, had an 8-7 lead at the split.
That quickly became 13-7 after play resumed, when Highlanders co-captain Ben Smith ghosted past Jordie Barrett and Gareth Evans, before feeding halfback Aaron Smith for the five-pointer.
Their lead didn't last long.
Nehe Milner-Skudder and Julian Savea caught the home side napping with a quick lineout, which ended with tighthead prop Jeff Toomaga-Allen storming over the line to give the Hurricanes a 14-13 lead, after Barrett's conversion.
Highlanders centre Rob Thompson is stopped in his tracks by Hurricanes pair Ardie Savea and Ben Lam.
Back came the Highlanders, through a prop of their own – Tyrel Lomax – who took a crisp Aaron Smith pass and dived over next to the posts.
The Hurricanes had 20 odd minutes to drag back the deficit but, as was the case last week, their execution simply wasn't up to scratch.
Their lineout (7/12) hindered them all night, and quite simply were outplayed by the home side, who played with black armbands to honour the death of head coach Aaron Mauger's mum during the week.
Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger, left, and halfback Aaron Smith embrace before Friday night's game.
They sealed the win 12 minutes from time, when Naholo outsprinted the Hurricanes' cover defence and touched down out wide.
AT A GLANCE
Highlanders 30 (Tevita Li, Aaron Smith, Waisake Naholo tries; Lima Sopoaga 2 pen, con) Hurricanes 14 (Jordie Barrett, Jeff Toomaga-Allen tries; Beauden Barrett 2 con). HT: 8-7
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