Levi wants Highlanders to go back to basics

Filipo Levi advocates the return of a grinding southern rugby style if the Highlanders are to put their Super 14 mid-season malaise behind them and quell the Hurricanes at Dunedin on Sunday.

The Highlanders' lacklustre 25-22 defeat of the Western Force on Saturday continued the flat form on show since returning from South Africa last month.

They have suffered losses to the Sharks and Chiefs while only just scraping past the lowly Cats and Force, opponents they would have expected to easily beat at Carisbrook.

Levi admitted his team were struggling to find their best form, not helped by a growing long-term injury list.

The latest loss is All Blacks lock James Ryan, whose shoulder injury sees him join first five-eighth Nick Evans, loose forward Andrew Blowers, fullback Paul Williams and winger Matt Saunders on the sideline for the rest of the competition.

Levi said the injuries wouldn't affect his team mentally in Sunday's game as the Highlanders had become used to playing with a weakened lineup all season.

"We haven't been like (competition leaders) the Crusaders who have been able to make the changes as they've liked. We've had to rearrange players every week and call a few in from outside," Levin said.

"Losing James last week made it worse but I thought our lineout went OK against the Force."

Levi said it was other areas of the game that saw the Highlanders nearly hand the Force their first win.

Coach Greg Cooper pointed out to his players this week that they tried to adopt a flashy style that was a world away from their strengths.

"Greg said we were trying to hard and he was right. We were throwing passes that weren't really there and not sticking to the game plan," Levi said.

"He showed us that if we did follow the game plan we were scoring tries or making good ground.

"(Against the Hurricanes) We'll just have to play the old Otago-Southland style of rugby, with the forwards trying to dominate. It won't be easy but if we can do it we should come out ahead of them."

Levi said the Hurricanes provided the same challenge they do every year, with the backline particularly potent. That would certainly be the case on Sunday, with centre Tana Umaga poised to return from injury.

Ryan's departure will again see the bruising Levi join Tom Donnelly at lock on Saturday, a switch that Levi doesn't entirely relish.

"I'd like to play at eight or six because I played there through high school and in club rugby," he said.

"It's just the last couple of years that I went to lock with the shortage of locks here.

"With James and Tom coming on we've been able to use their height and work rate."

Meanwhile, the Highlanders had some positive news yesterday when loose forward Craig Newby renewed his contract with the Otago Rugby Football Union, committing himself to New Zealand until the end of 2008.

Newby, 26, captained Otago in his debut year with the province last year when he was still on loan from North Harbour, and has also captained the Highlanders.

- NZPA