Super Rugby: Aaron Mauger's halftime rocket sparks Highlanders' stunning win
A rare rark up from coach Aaron Mauger proved the catalyst to the Highlanders stunning big comeback win over the Chiefs. Blown away 24-0 in the opening quarter, and seemingly out of it at 31-7 early in the second half in Sundays match in Hamilton, the visitors stormed to an unbelievable 33-31 win , which keeps their Super Rugby Aotearoa season still just alive. Sio Tomkinson sealed the deal after the siren at FMG Stadium Waikato, bursting across to level the scores, before Mitch Hunt popped over the extras to cap off a fightback for the ages. In all, it was a four-try second-half effort by the southerners, who, although conceding the first try of the second stanza, were able to make good on their coach's demands, following what Hunt termed a bullet from Mauger in the sheds at the interval. READ MORE: * Super Rugby: Warren Gatland refuses to blame TMO call for Highlanders heartbreaker * Super Rugby Aotearoa: Highlanders secure stunning comeback win over Chiefs * Super Rugby: 'It's obviously my preferred position', Otere Black injury opens door for Beauden Barrett Basically Do we want to walk the talk, Hunt said of the theme of the spray, for a team which he said was remaining positive and talking a lot about having a comeback in them. It was an unfamiliar sight and sound for the Highlanders players, with Mauger noting he was hardly a big exponent of a blow-up. Very rarely, to be fair, I trust these guys are onto it, he said. But this called for action. Season on the line, soft defence, ill-discipline, yellow card, missed shot at goal, no ruthlessness. The first thing was about mentality, he said. We set ourselves up for a couple of those tries we conceded early, just from not working hard enough. And thats unacceptable. "Once we addressed that, it was back to strategy, around how we were going to build our game with the mentality we talked about at halftime. So credit to these boys, they went out and did it. Mauger hailed the massive impact of his bench, notably returning one-test All Black Josh Ioane, who was injected straight after the break and slotted into a two-playmaker combo with Hunt, which sharpened up the backline. Just where Ioane plays out the campaign will remain to be seen. The experiment of him at second five-eighth and fullback pre-lockdown was backtracked on when he was named at No 10 to face the Chiefs in the opening round of SRA a month back, before his groin injury struck to rule him out. Since then, Hunt has been in commanding form. I think Mitch has been outstanding, to be fair, Mauger said. The last three or four weeks, a big part of our game and the opportunities we created, was on the back of Mitchs leadership, and his direction on the field. One thing were really happy with Mitchs game is hes attacking the line and using his running game, so thats been a big strength. Josh getting back on the field tonight gives us the ability to play both guys on the field, so Josh will be in the mix somewhere in these last three weeks, as will Mitchie. After a win in such circumstances as that, the Highlanders who with 10 points sit fourth on the table, two behind the Hurricanes and eight back from the game-in-hand leading Crusaders could conceivably rue a next-round bye, which doesnt allow them to ride the wave of this thrilling victory. Mauger saw it differently, though. Nah, well take the bye happily, he said. Were a bit banged up, to be fair. This was the fourth game in a row for us, I thought we were just hanging in there, and I think that was probably reflected in our slow start. So weve got to take those lessons because we cant afford to start like that again in our last three games. But extremely proud of the fight and the belief in this group, and I think they just responded to halftime and went out there and played our game, created opportunities and finished them off. It capped off a weekend of two two-point thrillers, which Mauger conceded was good for the competition but a bit rough on the coaches. I think its an awesome competition, he said. The spectacles that are being put on by these boys, these guys are putting everything out there, high quality footy, so the fans would be pretty happy. Its a little bit hard on the ticker, though, to be fair, as a coach. Itd be nice to do it a more convincing, but its what you expect, theyre the moments you live for, and for us were just happy to nail those key moments at the end. So Im extremely proud and Ill enjoy a couple of beers tonight.