Advertisement

You live by the offload... Highlanders recover in style after horrific early try giveaway

The champs hit back with four tries in an impressive 32 – 20 win.

REIGNING CHAMPS HIGHLANDERS found themselves battling an early 14-point deficit in this morning’s Super Rugby meeting with the Western Force in Dunedin.

SANZAAR / YouTube

The early concession was the Otago host’s own doing. Patrick Osborne attempted to offload out of contact on his own goal-line and fired the ball at the shins of Ben Smith, but even the brilliant All Black wasn’t able to gather and Dane Haylett-Petty collected an easy score.

Patrick Osborne runs in a try Photosport / Joe Allison/INPHO Photosport / Joe Allison/INPHO / Joe Allison/INPHO

Osborne more than made up for his error though. He crossed for a 17th minute score to halve the gap, finished the game off with an assist for Jason Emery, but perhaps most importantly, he sparked a terrific counter-attack try with a break from deep and a textbook offload to wing Matt Faddes. Dan Pryor completed the sweeping 27th minute move thanks to Aaron Smith.

The scrum-half was instrumental in swinging the game the Highlanders’ way after the break, dummying, breaking and grubbering ahead before Faddes touched down.

The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!

Jamie Cudmore is on the move after 11 years with Clermont Auvergne

Munster stick with Holland at out-half as Foley makes five changes for Leinster clash

Author
Sean Farrell
View 4 comments
Close
4 Comments
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.