Highlanders

There was hope Sopoaga, who hasn't played since picking up a hamstring injury against the Blues in round three, would return to play the Stormers in Dunedin in Friday night.

However, Sopoaga will sit out a seventh consecutive game, meaning Marty Banks will again run the show and Fletcher Smith will provide cover off the bench. 

Sopoaga is joined on the sidelines by loose forward Luke Whitelock, who has been struck down by concussion-type symptoms on the back of the Highlanders' 40-15 win against the Sunwolves last weekend. 

The final result was never in doubt, although the Highlanders looked rusty coming off the bye and weren't always convincing, particularly in the first half.

Their scrum was generally efficient and the set piece solid despite the absence of All Blacks flanker Elliot Dixon, ruled out late by a knee infection.

It took just four minutes for the Highlanders to punish the Sunwolves' slow start, the visitors' poor handling gifting plenty of early possession.

The dynamic 12-test All Blacks winger, along with first-five-eighth Lima Sopoaga, were both injured against the Blues at Eden Park in Super Rugby round three on March 11.

Fast forward more than a month and Naholo is back in training after recovering from his hamstring injury and is in contention to be named later this week to take the field for the Highlanders after playing 40 minutes of club rugby in Taranaki for Spotswood United.

Sopoaga is still doing his recovery and performance programme and is likely to be considered for selection in two weeks. 

Trailing 20-13 at halftime, the vastly-improved hosts slowly wrestled control of a clash between the two bottom-placed teams in the New Zealand Conference and retained the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy.

One of the few highlights of a scoreless second half for the Blues was the debut of cross code star Sonny Bill Williams, ending eight months out of rugby after rupturing his Achilles tendon at the Rio Olympics.

All Blacks midfield back Williams made one lightning break and offload but otherwise had little impact as the Highlanders dominated the closing stages.

Smith was a late scratching for the Highlanders last weekend after suffering a hamstring strain during the warmups.

He had previously missed two games with concussion.

Squire has been out of action since suffering a knee injury in the second round in early March.

Preparing for what will no doubt be a physical encounter coach Tony Brown has restored Daniel Lienert-Brown, Siosuia Halanukonuka, Alex Ainley and Elliot Dixon to the starting eight.

Squire makes his return after four weeks on the sideline and will make an impact from the bench.

Under pressure to perform ahead of the All Blacks and British and Irish Lions series in winter, Fekitoa scored two tries in his team's 51-12 romp against the Melbourne Rebels in Dunedin on Friday night. 

The 24-year-old wasn't perfect - there were still a couple of frustrating handling errors - but there were enough signs for Coach Tony Brown to believe he's on the right track. 

"I think he was a little bit underdone in those first few games," Brown said. "But all the All Blacks were. It's hard for the All Blacks to come back and play good footy straight away.

Sopoaga, the brother of All Blacks and Highlanders first-five eighth Lima, has been named on the bench for the team's round six match against the winless Melbourne Rebels.

After struggling for game time, the 24-year-old former Cronulla Shark and Penrith Panther gave up league and returned to rugby union late last year in Australia's domestic competition.

The loose forward signed to play for the Southland Stags a few weeks ago, and was promptly snapped up by the Highlanders, whose loose forward stocks have been depleted by injury. 

The 27-year-old rake has re-signed with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and the Highlanders for two more years, joining team mate Ben Smith in re-committing to the Dunedin-based team this year.

The Highlanders confirmed Coltman, who made his test debut during the All Blacks' 68-10 win against Italy in Rome last November, opted to extend his time with the team via social media on Tuesday.

"I absolutely love Dunedin, love the place, can't get enough of it," Coltman said in a video posted by the team.

Smith will this week celebrate playing his 100th Super Rugby game for the Highlanders when they take on the Melbourne Rebels in Dunedin.

He received a formal warning and stood down from an All Blacks test in October after he was seen entering a toilet cubical with a woman at Christchurch Airport.

He later said he made a huge mistake and apologised to his partner, both his and her families, his teammates and New Zealand fans.

Smith struggled on the All Blacks end of year tour.

Trailing for most of a match that made up for a lack of quality with plenty of commitment, replacement Highlanders prop Aki Seiuli barrelled over under the posts in the 73rd minute for a converted try that proved to be the difference.

The Brumbies then set about utilising their favourite attacking ploy, the driving maul off a lineout, in a frantic finale, but the visitors held firm on three occasions to either draw a penalty or force a turnover to keep their lead intact.