The Highlanders play their home games in blue and yellow shirts and the team emblem is a rampant Highlander brandishing in one hand a shield and in the other a claymore, as a symbolic indication of equal attention being paid to defence and attack. The shirt has featured in 1 final and 3 semi-finals all in the Super 12 era. A recent addition was a green jersey that did not prove particularly popular with fans, as they felt it went against the traditional colours of the Otago rugby union.
2016/17 Home Super Shirt £60.00 from Lovell Rugby |
2016/17 Alternate Super Shirt £60.00 from Lovell Rugby |
The Otago Highlanders, officially known simply as the Highlanders, are a rugby union team from New Zealand, and one of the original franchises in the Super 12's now 15's. The feeder areas for the side are the regions of Otago, North Otago, and Southland, with its strong Scottish roots it is easy to see how the team got its name.
2011Former Otago player Jamie Joseph took the reins as head coach for the 2011 season, and immediately injected some traditional steel and resolve into the Highlanders side, as they enjoyed one of their most successful seasons in over a decade. Their 8th place finish at the end of the season does little to justice to a season where they were in play-off contention for the majority of the campaign, and recorded impressive victories against a number of tough opponents, including a win over the Bulls in South Africa. | 2008-09Under new coach Glenn Moore the Highlanders capitulated in the 2008 season, turning in the worst performance of the franchises history as they finished as the worst New Zealand franchise, managing only three victories. Their fortunes continued to plummet in 2009 as the side, with new captain Jimmy Cowan at the helm, finished 11th, recording only four wins. | ||
2006In the expanded Super 14 competition the Highlanders struggled to get out of their rut, despite winning three of their first four matches. Slumping to five defeats in their last six matches the Highlanders ended the season in 9th position on the table. | 2002-03Otago legend and former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains returned to coach the side in 2002, taking them to another semi-final, where they again experienced defeat at the hands of the Crusaders. The 2002 season also heralded the introduction of the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy, contested between the Highlanders and the Blues. 2003 was a challenging year for the franchise, with a rift between senior players and the coaching staff eventually leading to Mains’ departure, and contributing to an unsuccessful season. | ||
2000Hot on the heels of two successful seasons, the Highlanders made in three years in a row in the Semi Finals when they booked a rematch against the Crusaders, this time played in Christchurch. The red and blacks again proved the stumbling block for the Dunedin-based franchise as the men from the South went down 37-15 to the competition’s eventual winners. | 1997-99In 1998 the Highlanders qualified for the Semi-finals for the first time, losing to reigning champions the Auckland Blues, 37-26. The following season they went one better, winning their semi-final and earning the right to host the final, where they hosted the Crusaders at Carisbrook in the second successive all-New Zealand final. Billed as ‘The Party at Tony Brown’s House’, the Highlanders lost in an enthralling encounter, 24-19. |
The Highlanders now play at the purpose built Forsyth Barr stadium in Dunedin, an indoor arena, built for New Zealand hosting the 2011 Rugby World Cup, previously they had played at Carisbrook Stadium in Dunedin, locally known as "The House of pain". They also sometimes play at the Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill and in Queenstown.
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