{"id":8334,"date":"2012-02-25T14:34:37","date_gmt":"2012-02-25T12:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/02\/rugby-highlanders-stun-chiefs-with-second-half-blitz\/"},"modified":"2012-02-25T14:34:37","modified_gmt":"2012-02-25T12:34:37","slug":"rugby-highlanders-stun-chiefs-with-second-half-blitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/rugby-highlanders-stun-chiefs-with-second-half-blitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby-Highlanders stun Chiefs with second half blitz"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

Feb 25 (Reuters) – The Otago Highlanders scored two
\ntries in five second-half minutes to overhaul the Waikato Chiefs
\n23-19 in a bruising Super Rugby season-opener in Hamilton on
\nSaturday that proved costly for both sides.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chiefs led 19-9 into the last quarter but were stunned
\nby tries to replacement scrumhalf Aaron Smith and inside centre
\nPhil Burleigh and were shut out repeatedly by desperate
\ndefending in the final minutes.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“The boys showed some spirit… We knew the Chiefs boys
\nreally wanted to step up with their forward pack and we managed
\nthat and it turned out to be quite a good game of footy,”
\nHighlanders captain Jamie Mackintosh said in a pitchside
\ninterview.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“The way the boys hung on ’til the end, that’s a bit of
\ncharacter and something to build on.”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chiefs lost winger Lelia Masaga to an apparent knee
\ninjury sustained in a tackle in the second half and scrumhalf
\nBrendan Leonard came off soon after, clutching his hamstring.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The Highlanders also lost flyhalf Chris Noakes to a leg
\ninjury in the final minutes.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chiefs’ All Black flyhalf Aaron Cruden was dominant
\nearly, setting up a try and slotting four penalties to drive
\nAwikato to a 16-9 lead at halftime, but made a howling mistake
\nunder pressure that ultimately cost the game.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Attempting to clear the ball deep in defence, Cruden’s kick
\nwas charged down by replacement hooker Jason Rutledge, who
\ncalmly collected the spilled ball and offloaded to a charging
\nBurleigh.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The centre cantered over the line in the left corner for the
\n Highlanders’ second try in the 65th minute. After Noakes’
\nsecond conversion, the Highlanders protected the lead grimly to
\nthe end.
\n\u00a0 Continued…<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feb 25 (Reuters) – The Otago Highlanders scored two tries in five second-half minutes to overhaul the Waikato Chiefs 23-19 in a bruising Super Rugby season-opener in Hamilton on Saturday that proved costly for both sides. The Chiefs led 19-9 into the last quarter but were stunned by tries to replacement scrumhalf Aaron Smith and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-8334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}