Highlanders keeping wheels on road

Nathan Sharpe will get an emotional welcome in Brisbane. Picture / Greg Bowker

A buoyant Highlanders outfit know they are a win away from a superb travelling roadshow when they tackle the Reds in Brisbane tonight.

Three wins on the bounce, including back-to-back victories in South Africa, have turned the Highlanders into playoff contenders - and three of their last five games are at home.

But coach Greg Cooper insisted they won't be fooled by either the Highlanders' 6-3 win-loss record against the Queensland franchise or the Reds' ordinary 1-from-3 record so far.

"The Reds are a better team than people realise and they'll be fizzing for this game," Cooper said. "They could have beaten the Hurricanes in the opening round and then they probably should have beaten the Blues.

"I just think there's too many good players in that team to take them lightly."

The Highlanders have retained an unchanged line-up from that which beat the Cats 16-12 in Johannesburg a week ago, a result which enhanced their record as the tightest defensive unit in the competition.

They have conceded only six tries, one fewer than leaders the Waratahs.

The Reds are again without pivotal figure Elton Flatley, about whom there is mounting concern as he battles to overcome a serious concussion, from a head collision with team-mate David Croft against the Crusaders on March 12.

There are six players 21 or under in the Reds' line-up, but the big local interest is in their bench, which includes giant prop Rodney Blake, nicknamed "Rodzilla".

Blake was over 145kg when he joined the Reds last season. But a strict diet and training regime has him slimmed down to a mere 129kg.

"Rodney deserves his chance after excellent performances for the A team and we have no doubt he will add some muscle to our pack," coach Jeff Miller said.

The Reds locks, Nathan Sharpe and Hugh McMeniman, will have a decent square-off against Highlanders James Ryan and Tom Donnelly, who have stepped up to the mark to compensate for the loss of former All Black Simon Maling.

"James and Tom are very good in the air and it's taken away the issue of Simon," Cooper added. "It's hard to replace a player of Simon's quality, but these two young ones are coming through."

Sharpe, tipped to join the new Perth franchise, will get emotional backing to stay tonight. Ballymore's celebrated hill has been turned into a "Don't Go Sharpie Hill" for the match, aimed at helping persuade the Wallaby lock to remain.

"It's very nice and quite humbling," Sharpe said.