Highlanders vs Rebels Predictions & Tips - Highlanders to show their class in Sydney

The Rebels have struggled in the opening two weeks of the Super Rugby trans-Tasman competition. They have been beaten by 47 and 22 points in their two outings. I’m backing the Highlanders to cover the -17 handicap in this one with relative ease.

The Rebels have won their last two matches against the Highlanders.

Their last encounter took place in 2020 where the Rebels won 28-22 in Dunedin.

The Highlanders have won their opening two Super Rugby trans-Tasman fixtures. They opened the tournament with a 40-19 home win over the Reds who won the Super Rugby AU title the week before.

That was followed by a less convincing 25-15 win in Perth against the Western Force. They failed to get the bonus point in the latter fixture which puts them a point behind the leaders.

This weekend the Highlanders will fancy their chances given the Rebels struggles thus far.

Josh Ioane starts at fullback while Mitch Hunt remains at flyhalf after putting in some impressive performances. The Highlanders have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this fixture.

The Rebels have regressed since the 2020 season. In Super Rugby AU they struggled in the second half of the campaign and ended up handing the playoff spot off to the Force.

For some reason their attack has been poor this season, the worst across New Zealand and Australia. They have struggled to score tries all season and there is no sign of that stopping now.

On the opening weekend the Rebels got hammered 50-3 by the Blues. In round two it went slightly better but they still suffered a 35-13 loss at the Hurricanes.

This match had to be moved to Sydney after Melbourne went into a mini-lockdown. This meant the Rebels couldn’t fly to New Zealand.

No players have however been affected so the Rebels will have a full squad from which to pick.