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Cape Town - The Highlanders have confirmed their spot in the 2015 Super Rugby playoffs with a comprehensive win over the Chiefs in Invercargill on Saturday.
As it happened: Highlanders v Chiefs
The Highlanders won 36-9 after leading 11-3 at half-time.
The Highlanders scored three tries through wings Patrick Osborne and Waisake Naholo, centre Richard Buckman and fullback Ben Smith. Flyhalf Lima Sopoaga added two conversions and four penalties.
The Chiefs replied with three penalties by fullback Damian McKenzie.
The Highlanders picked up a full-house of five points for their victory and moved to second in the New Zealand Conference and fourth in the Overall standings.
The Chiefs left empty-handed and slipped to third in the New Zealand Conference and fifth in the Overall log.In next weekend's Round 17 action, the Highlanders travel to Napier to tackle the Hurricanes (Friday, June 5 at 09:35), while the Chiefs will look to secure their playoff spot against the Reds in Brisbane (Saturday, June 6 at 11:40).
Teams:
Highlanders
15 Ben Smith (captain), 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Richard Buckman, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Dan Pryor, 7 John Hardie, 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Alex Ainley, 3 Josh Hohneck, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Brendon Edmonds.
Substitutes: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Joe Latta, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Marty Banks, 23 Jason Emery
Chiefs
15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Hosea Gear, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Bryce Heem, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Maama Vaipulu, 5 Michael Fitzgerald, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Substitutes: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Siate Tokolahi, 18 Mitchell Graham, 19 Brian Alainu’uese, 20 Mitchell Crosswell, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Andrew Horrell, 23 Tim Nanai-Williams
