The Highlanders and Melbourne Rebels have played out plenty of high scoring thrillers during their short rivalry and Friday night's rematch in Dunedin once again saw both sides break the 30 point barrier, with the Highlanders just about triumphing 33-30 thanks to Lima Sopoaga's ever-reliable kicking boot.
It was a pretty good performance by the Highlanders in attack even if their defence left much to be desired and definitely raises questions of their ability to be true Super Rugby challengers especially when they come up against sides with much better defenses than the Rebels. With the likes of the Smiths, Malakai Fekitoa and surprise star, Richard Buckman, the Highlanders definitely have the x-factor in the backs this season.
Nevertheless, the Highlanders will take the 4 points for the win at home which will definitely be invaluable in keeping up in a very competitive New Zealand conference - it is already their 3rd of the season - the same amount of wins they had the whole of last season.
As for the Rebels, they shouldn't lose heart with this defeat and the bonus point for losing within 7 points they earned was deserved as they continued their improvement this season. Like the Highlanders, the Rebels are going for an ethos of attack football and the belief that they can score more points than the opposition, meaning they will be quite exciting to watch. Hopefully, they won't be far off from being true challengers in the Australian conference - being part of the playoffs will be very good for them and the Western Force and help to boost rugby union's fortunes in Australia during a time when they're struggling to grab public attention from the NRL and AFL.
Anyway here are highlights from last night's game -
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