McMillan, speaking ahead of his first match as a Super Rugby coach, was anticipating his counterpart Brown to make changes, though, and Fakatava’s elevation has been raised by the Highlanders coach in pre-season. Ioane’s promotion from the bench sees Mitchell Hunt move from first-five to fullback. “One thing we know about Browny, you might think something, but he’s likely to do something completely different,” McMillan said this week. “Our challenge is to expect the unexpected. I guess they are under pressure to play [Fakatava] down there, aren’t they? Otherwise, he might end up somewhere else.” Chiefs co-captain Sam Cane expects the Highlanders to persist with their lineout drive, although it was largely ineffective against the Crusaders, and the All Blacks skipper said Brown’s fingerprints were all over their tactics deployed in the loss to the defending champions, including cross-field kicks and the attacks that seem spontaneous but have been practised at
Highlanders
Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith says plans are already in place for him to make it through to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Highlanders fans still labouring under the misapprehension that Mitch Hunt was an Aaron Mauger/Crusaders old boys selection last year promptly need to reassess that view. New head coach Tony Brown also admires Hunt and his selection at No 15 against the Chiefs on Friday shows that Hunt s communication and leadership abilities continue to be a valued currency within the Highlanders, even if he doesn t always get the plaudits from outside the camp.
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Mitchell Hunt practises his kicking as Aaron Smith looks on at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Wednesday.
Sam Cane (left) and Dane Coles will again provide some star power to Super Rugby Aotearoa.
OPINION: Super Rugby Aotearoa begins with the Highlanders hosting the Crusaders in Dunedin on Friday night. There will be plenty to discuss, and debate, over the coming months. Stuff rugby writers Richard Knowler, Robert Van Royen and Marc Hinton give their views on 10 talking points.
1 The new goal-line drop-out rule will mean fewer 5m scrums which, for obvious reasons, will annoy many forwards. Will the game be better or worse for this law variation?
Richard Knowler: Better. The game must do everything it can to convert the non-believers. Lots of scrums, usually preceded by collapses and re-sets on the tryline, isn’t a good look. Something has to change.
TOP LEAGUE
Former Crusaders and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans worries about the game in the south as Japan s Top League goes from strength to strength.
All Blacks playmaker Damian McKenzie has been listed to start at first five-eighth for the Chiefs in Saturday s game of three halves against the Crusaders and the Blues in Cambridge. The Chiefs have welcomed back their All Blacks for the pre-season fixture, including national captain Sam Cane, Brad Weber, Anton Lienert-Brown and Tupou Vaa’i, and each can play up to 40 minutes at Hautapu s Memorial Park. McKenzie has been named at 10 for the second half against the Blues, an indication perhaps that new coach Clayton McMillan is thinking about returning him there after switching to fullback permanently in 2019.
“Sam will still be the captain. but what we want to do is give him some support, not just around the on-field stuff, but the off-field stuff,” McMillan said. “Captaincy can be a big weight to carry on one person’s shoulders. So if we can get some common agreement on who that other person might be, then that’s certainly the motivation, to have co-captains.
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Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan said it was important they shared the load on the national skipper. “It’s not something that’s entirely foreign to the Chiefs, and they’ve had good success doing that in the past.”