Highlanders

The Highlanders dominated territory early on but were unable to convert that advantage into points.

The Hurricanes opened the scoring against the run of play with an almost length of the field try.

RNZI reports Whitelock, the younger brother of twice World Cup-winning lock Sam, made his sole appearance for the All Blacks off the bench against Japan in 2013.

The 25-year-old moved south from Canterbury this season and has been at the forefront of the Highlanders resurgence after two mid-season losses, with the side having beaten the Chiefs and Crusaders in their last two matches.

That generosity, however, will be limited to their being happy to give away possession via a barrage of high kicks to the visiting outside backs Johnny McNichol, Israel Dagg and Jone Macilai.

RNZI reports the defending champions outscored the visitors from Canberra two tries to one in the 23-10 victory.

Match day in the deep south of New Zealand didn't start well for the Brumbies, who had to take taxis to the ground after their team bus broke down.

Naholo suffered his latest leg injury in the dying stages of the Super Rugby champion's opening round loss to the Blues on February 26 and his rehabilitation has been carefully monitored at the franchise's headquarters.

The 24-year-old is now back in full contact training so a run in the club competition this weekend for the Harbour Hawks is the next logical step.

Should be emerge unscathed, Highlanders assistant coach Scott McLeod said the imposing finisher could play against the New Zealand conference-leading Chiefs in Hamilton on May 7.

The Highlanders had hoped the Fiji-born flyer would be ready to play against South Africa's Sharks in Dunedin on Friday but assistant coach Tony Brown says Naholo is still some way off full contact training.

"We haven't really made a plan for Waisake yet. We're getting him back running, he's doing that at the moment," Brown said.

Liam Gill, Nick Frisby and star man Samu Kerevi all scored tries in the first half, as the competition's 17th-ranked team dominated the outfit who came into the round rated second best.

In the forwards, regular starting lock Joe Wheeler re-joins the team and will partner with Mark Reddish who, after a good showing last week against the Waratahs, has been promoted to the starting fifteen.

The locks who started against the Waratahs last weekend, Alex Ainley and Tom Franklin, have both been left out of the matchday 23 this week.

Despite fielding a supposedly depowered back three and the absence of two key forwards, the Highlanders notched their fifth win in seven matches over the New South Welshmen, though not before the concession of three tries in eight minutes set up a frantic climax at Allianz Stadium.

In a rematch of last year's Super Rugby title-decider, the 25-year-old's angled kick from just outside the 22m line gave the champion Highlanders their first win of the season, while leaving last year's runners-up 0-2 and under pressure after two rounds. "It was a good game, wasn't it? Just lucky we managed to pull through at the end there," Highlanders captain Ben Smith said pitchside.