Match-winner Gatland praises pack
Highlanders match-winner Bryn Gatland is not unfamiliar with landing vital dropped goals but there was special satisfaction in beating the Chiefs 28-27 in Dunedin on Saturday.
Coming on as a replacement at fullback, Gatland slammed a 40m dropped goal to secure the win, one minute from fulltime.
Apart from securing a much-needed, season-boosting win for his side, Gatland was able to celebrate a return to rugby at the expense of the side coached by his father, former Wales and still British & Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland.
It also went some way towards earning Gatland Jnr some relief from Otago fans who were on the end of a Gatland dropped goal in a Mitre 10 Cup play-off game for his North Harbour side a few seasons back.
But Gatland was quick to turn the praise for the win to the Highlanders pack for their effort in setting up the performance and also the chance for him to seal the win.
Gatland said it had been a strange week for him with the late call into the game and he was just happy to get some playing minutes coming off the bench.
"It's my first game back in 13 months since I got my injury and I am just stoked to be back out there and to have that game finish like that was awesome, but I think we put a really good performance in tonight but there's still plenty to work on. But I think it shows we're here to play," he said.
While he had some nervousness going into the game, especially as the result of not having played for so long, he said it was just a case of having faith in his ability. He had been training for so long that he felt ready to play.
He got an indication on Thursday that Josh Ioane had suffered an injury and that he may be included on the bench and that was confirmed at the captain's run on Friday.
Gatland said he had hoped to be able to force his way back into selection consideration in the earlier Super Rugby season but that hadn't happened so he had taken his chance to prepare well during the lockdown.
He, and other members of the side, had found it difficult to do gym work during the lockdown but they had been able to get out and run and when able to return to training there was an appreciable lift in fitness standards.