The Highlanders played some great footy at times and scored some quality tries in a match that had plenty of vigour and pace. Walden scored his two tries in that time, so it undoubtedly had an impact on the match. But the Highlanders deserved the win, the side's first win in the opening game of the season since 2014. After some tricky in-passing by the Blues forwards, the ball came to Gatland, who stepped inside the defence to stroll over. It was not long before the Blues came back and returned to the lead.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 23, 2018 16:07 UTC