Super Rugby
Highlanders take pre-season game to back paddock
ESPN Staff
May 29, 2015
Greg Growden runs an eye over Round 16 of Super Rugby

The Highlanders are hoping to connect with their rural fans ahead of next year's Super Rugby season by taking a trial match to a farmer's back paddock.

In what is likely to be a hugely popular, if completely quirky, move, the Highlanders have confirmed a pre-season fixture in Waimumu - the home of the biennial Southern Field Days event - with the match to take place in Farmlands shareholder Fred Booth's paddock. The three-day event routinely draws in excess of 35,000 and will likely experience a surge in attendance thanks to the Highlanders' endeavour.

"We are certainly in this for the long haul, we see it as a good fit with our fans and commercial partners and also something a little different for the Highlanders," Highlanders Commercial Manager Mike Kerr said.

The Hurricanes, one of the Highlanders' New Zealand rivals, have held a similar rural fixture in previous years in the tiny Wairarapa town of Mangatainoka. The current Super Rugby leaders had to move the fixture in 2014 however when the farmer who owned the land, Nick Symonds, fell ill.

The Highlanders' region spreads well beyond the franchise's Dunedin base with their Round 16 clash against the Chiefs being played in Invercargill. Next year's pre-season fixture will help drive their connection with supporters outside of Dunedin.

"We see this as an exciting initiative that will help us connect further with our rural fan base," Kerr said. "We have to acknowledge the great people at both the Southern Field Days and Farmlands, as without their commitment and passion to create a unique rural event this game would not be possible."

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