Fijian Drua 24<\/p>\n
The Highlanders\u2019 hopes of sneaking into the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs have been dealt another blow. <\/p>\n
A 24-14 loss to the Fijian Drua in Ba on Saturday afternoon saw the side remain outside the top six in what shapes up as a hotly contested run to the post-season. <\/p>\n
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n And while Jamie Joseph\u2019s side had plenty of opportunities inside enemy territory, a combination of good Drua tackling and a lack of accuracy and ball security for the Highlanders limited them to just two tries. <\/p>\n The Highlanders\u2019 day could be summed up by a couple of plays at the try line in the second half. First, loose forward Veveni Lasaqa made a great read at a Drua scrum 5m from their own line for an intercept, only to knock the ball on. Later in the half, replacement hooker Soane Vikena swooped onto a loose lineout in a similar position but could not hold onto the ball in at tackle and dropped it at the try line. <\/p>\n \u201cFor us, we just didn\u2019t quite execute what we were trying to achieve today,\u201d Highlanders captain Timoci Tavatavanawai said in his post-game interview broadcast on Sky Sport. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our error rate. We\u2019re too eager … a bit of white line fever. For us, that has let us down in a couple of games throughout the whole season, just our error rate. We did very well to get into the 22 but our error rate just let us down. <\/p>\n \u201cIt came back to our error rate.\u201d <\/p>\n The hosts were also on a different level at the breakdown as they won 14 turnovers \u2013 No 8 Elia Canakaivata (four) and blindside flanker Kitione Salawa (three) accounting for half of those \u2013 while the Highlanders coughed the ball up a total of 28 times. <\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t so much an error, but some good vision from Drua centre Tuidraki Samusamuvodre that saw the scoreboard tick over. Samusamuvodre picks off a pass inside his own 22 and took off downfield. While left winger Joji Nasova overran him in support, Samusamuvodre took the tackle and his teammates were there to move it on quickly for second five-eighths Virimi Vakatawa to cross in the 10th minute. <\/p>\n That lead lasted just five minutes, however, as the Highlanders struck back through right winger Jonah Lowe. <\/p>\n AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n The Drua took the lead again midway through the half with Isikeli Rabitu bashes through a couple of attempted tackles and scored from a position he probably shouldn\u2019t have, showing strength and speed to get it done. <\/p>\n The Highlanders took some hope into the second half though, with Lasaqa scoring from a lineout drive late in the first stanza and Cam Millar\u2019s conversion giving the team the lead at the break. <\/p>\n Those were the last points they scored. <\/p>\n Two Drua tries early in the first half to Rabitu and Canakaivata pushed the hosts out to a double-digit lead, and the Highlanders couldn\u2019t get out of their own way when they got into good attacking territory. <\/p>\n Highlanders 14 (Jonah Lowe, Veveni Lasaqa try; Cam Millar 2 cons) <\/p>\n Fijian Drua 24 (Isikeli Rabitu 2, Virimi Vakatawa, Elia Canakaivata tries; Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula 2 cons) <\/p>\n AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n HT: 14-12 <\/p>\n