TONY Brown’s Highlanders kept their Aotearoa final hopes alive with a surprise 35-29 victory over the Blues on Friday.
Highlanders were dealt an injury blow midweek when rookie sensation Connor Garden-Bachop was ruled out for the season with a broken wrist, but responded brilliantly in his absence.
The Blues opened the scoring with a converted try by scrum half Jonathan Ruru, as he intercepted Aaron Smith’s pass on his own try line.
Highlanders responded with a penalty from Josh Ioane and a close range converted try from Japanese international Kazuki Himeno after a tapand-go by Smith.
Thi...