Waratahs win 32-20 against the Highlanders. Video / Sky Sport
Waratahs 32 Highlanders 20
The race to secure the final home match in the opening round of the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs will have three starters in the final round robin week.
The Chiefs, Hurricanes and Waratahs will all have a chance to finish fourth on the ladder in their final matches of the season, after the Waratahs stayed in touch with their Kiwi foe with a 32-20 win over the Highlanders in Dunedin on Sunday.
They didn't earn a bonus point, so remain four points back of the fourth-placed Chiefs and one back from the Hurricanes, needing results to go their way next weekend.
While handed the loss, the Highlanders' failure to secure a bonus point leaves them on shaky ground ahead of the final round, as their standing as eighth and final team to qualify for the playoffs is now vulnerable.
The Highlanders hold an eight-point lead over the Western Force, however the Force play two games in the final round. On Tuesday, the Force have a catch-up fixture against Moana Pasifika, before meeting the Hurricanes at midnight on Saturday. A win over Moana Pasifika will see the Force remain a chance to finish in eighth.
It was a wild game in Dunedin as the Highlanders failed to capitalise on their chance to lock up a playoff spot. The hosts, who were forced into some late changes, got onto the board almost immediately after they kicked off, forcing a turnover and testing the Waratahs defence. Lock Josh Dickson got the scoring underway, planting the ball under the posts. Waratahs No 8 Will Harris hit back soon after, but the Highlanders had the better of the early exchanges.
The Highlanders left points on the field in the early, with an attacking mindset from penalties. Rather than taking the points, they kicked to touch and were unable to convert those positions into points.
The match swung half an hour in when Highlanders No 10 Sam Gilbert had a brain explosion, lifting opposition flanker Michael Hooper away from the breakdown and dropping him on his head with no signs of looking to correct the movement.
With the one-man overlap, the Waratahs were in again through reliable wing Mark Nawaqanitawase. Hooper followed him over soon after, catching the Highlanders napping with a quick pick-and-go to go on a good run and score.
Michael Hooper scored for the Waratahs after being the victim of a reckless cleanout. Photo / Getty
The Highlanders held the Waratahs out for the opening 10 minutes of the second half before Marty Banks – replacing Gilbert – came on and kicked a penalty goal.
It was the Waratahs who went down a man early in the second half as a head-on-head collision at the breakdown with Dickson saw prop Paddy Ryan shown a yellow card.
The Highlanders capitalised, with Scott Gregory scoring out wide on the overlap.
Once the sides got back to even numbers, the Waratahs took over. Building pressure through penalty goals, they eventually got over the line again through Tane Edmed – who scored all their second-half points – to put the game beyond the Highlanders' reach.
The hosts scored a consolation try through Liam Coombes-Fabling after the siren, but fell short of a bonus point.
Waratahs 32 (Will Harris, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Michael Hooper, Tane Edmed tries; Edmed 3 cons, 2 pens) Highlanders 20 (Josh Dickson, Scott Gregory, Liam Coombes-Fabling tries; Sam Gilbert con, Marty Banks pen) HT: 19-7
