Bruised Highlanders gear up for historic test in Tonga

Round 11 of Super Rugby Pacific 2024 will go down in history for the competition’s first game played in Tonga, and it will be the Highlanders and Moana Pasifika fighting to be on the right side of that history.

Having hosted a game in Samoa in 2023, Moana Pasifika will represent their fans in ‘Ikale Tahi country in a contest against a team also looking for their fourth win of the season as the race for the playoffs heats up.

For the Highlanders, it will be a very different outlook compared to round 10’s gritty win over the Western Force under the roof in Dunedin.

The team have been practising with wet balls to prepare for the Nuku’alofa conditions.

It’ll be an especially steep challenge for the team’s young playmakers, who will be forced to step up in the absence of veteran Rhys Patchell who suffered a pectoral injury.

“There have been patches that they’ve gone well. They’re still young players and still learning the game,” assistant coach Tom Donnelly said of the young duo of Cam Millar and Ajay Faleafaga.

“The best thing about having Rhys around is he’s been working hard with those guys around how they build their week and how they prepare for games.”

The Southern team currently hold the eighth seed on the table thanks to a bonus point separating them from Moana Pasifika, but while a win could see them move up to seventh, their slim advantage over the three teams below them makes the team vulnerable to a major slide down the table.

With a young team looking to grow and find their feet in Super Rugby, Donnelly said his team were learning some lessons around mental resilience.

“The reasonably young group we’ve got, we’re making errors and we’re not able to flush them quickly to get back into the game.

“So, our game is getting better. We’re still making too many errors in crucial areas of the field, allowing us to release pressure on the opposition.

“We’re a lot better side than that, but we created a lot of opportunities and it was little handling errors at the last moments that let us down.”

In addition to Patchell’s injury, No. 8 Hugh Renton is out for the season with an ankle injury, winger Jonah Lowe has done his ACL in his right knee and fellow outside back Jona Nareki will miss at least three weeks with a hamstring injury.

Young Otago outside back Finn Hurley will join the team to cover the injured wingers.