Week 14 of the 2024 Super Rugby Season ended with a rare Sunday afternoon game at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand, between the hosts Highlanders and visitors Fijian Drua. The first half belongs to the Highlanders fair and square 18-0 with two tries and penalty goals whereas the Drua despite showing some attacking threat couldn’t get themselves over the in-goal line. 2nd half might have seen Drua at last register the one & only points off the penalty goal. However, the boys from Dunedin continued to hammer them with more tries on the board that the home supporters was so happy to see, with Finals expected to be around the corner thanks to their huge win 39-3. Now bring on the regular season finale next weekend where it’s going to be a tight race to secure the 8th & final spot before we look ahead to the three-week Finals starting Friday June 7.
There is one man who is great at overcoming adversity such as an ACL knee injury two years ago followed by a foot injury last year and his name is Jona Nareki who plays on the Highlanders left wing. He has electrified the team this afternoon with his excellent pace having been supported by his numbers up front that reflects his two-try performance v Fijian Drua. Let’s hope he can kick on & stay injury free as his side is now ahead of the Rebels in 6th thanks to the bonus point win with the Hurricanes next on Saturday. Then there’s another attacking Highlanders player you need to know and it’s Jacob Ratimaitavuki-Kneepens from the back at No.15. He’s someone who is tall, never stops running & also kicks around having injected the extra dimension his side was after with one TRY for himself earlier on while he played a key influence for his wingers by his side like Nareki and Timoci Tavatanawai. He’s come from a long, long way where he learned so much after being around Waikato & the Blues setup with finals now being well & truly locked in to have an extended run from here.
And 20-year-old No.10 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula just became the second Fijian Drua player to reach 100 points after he scored the one and only three-point penalty goal earlier in the 2nd half. He’s got the mobility and creative eye at 5 ft 9 in that gave the most out of the Drua’s attacking chances on occasions including a great start earlier on where his side were almost there to lead the Highlanders in Dunedin. It’s unfortunate that the Drua couldn’t get the job done before they struggled to stop on its own that reflected such a huge defensive mess where the Highlanders had a great sigh of relief & they too have been exceptional in return as he needs their huge home support to get the Drua going with pride ahead of the Rebels on Saturday.