Improvements needed for Highlanders following Reds scare
The Highlanders had to dig much deeper than what many expected as they came from behind to secure victory for a second week running against the Reds in Dunedin on Friday.
However, head coach Aaron Mauger fully expected the spirited effort from the lowly Queenslanders, who conceded a Dillon Hunt try in the final few minutes to lose 36-31.
Earlier in the week, Mauger said that he anticipated the Brad Thorn-coached side to provide a gritty, determined challenge under the roof of Forsyth Barr Stadium, and that is exactly what the Highlanders had to contend with as they came from behind twice to steal a late win.
“It was everything we expected from the Reds, everything we previewed about them being a team that had a lot of guts and played for the full 80 minutes,” Mauger told RugbyPass post-match.
“We knew they’d strike back. [I] thought we did a lot of things really well, probably gave them some opportunities to stay in the game as well, so that was a little bit disappointing. To their credit, they took their opportunities, and made it a contest for 80 minutes.”
Mauger had highlighted the Reds’ forwards, of which featured five Wallabies, as one of the key threats posed by the Queenslanders, and said his side had planned to make the opposition pack move around the park in an attempt to work them out of the game.
While it was a plan that worked well enough to yield five well-taken tries, defensive frailties, a wobbly set piece and individual errors mounted to let the visitors come uncomfortably close to victory.
“I thought we were a bit passive on defence tonight,” Mauger said.
“We got caught on our heels a lot. When we defend well, we’re a team that are on our toes and get off the line and make good shots, so I didn’t see that enough tonight.
“They scored some awesome tries, they ran 60 or 70 metres from a couple of turnovers and made us pay, so we’re going to have to take the lessons from that and be better next time.”
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After an impressive opening 20-minute stanza, where he beat two defenders to break the line three times, run for 57 metres and score a try, midfielder Rob Thompson was forced off the field with what appeared to be an ankle complaint sustained at a breakdown.
Thompson’s injury woes did not dismay Mauger, though.
“He seemed okay at halftime,” he said.
“He was obviously a little bit sore, so he couldn’t carry on because he couldn’t put any weight through it, but he was showered up and smiling at halftime, so we’ll wait for the medics to assess him in the morning, and see where he’s going.”
Thompson joins winger Tevita Nabura – whose campaign has ended before it started with a pre-season shoulder injury – and loose forward Liam Squire in the Highlanders’ medical ward.
Squire, who is working through an ongoing hip injury, will have his work cut out for him once he returns to the side following the impressive performance of Shannon Frizell.
The four-test All Black was immense from blindside flanker, scoring a brace of tries after carrying the ball for 56 metres, beating six defenders and making two clean breaks in the process.
He was defensively astute as well, missing none of his 11 tackle attempts and winning two turnovers for his side.
Mauger was cautious in praising the 25-year-old, though, with Squire still firmly in the mix despite being a couple weeks away from selection contention.
“We think Shannon was okay, did a lot of things really well. There’s a few parts of his game that he’ll need to keep working on to give us those important things that we need from him.
“Don’t talk him up too much because all those guys have still got things to work on, they’re all going to compete through the year for those positions, so it’s an exciting place for them.”
Young first-five Josh Ioane was another to impress for the Highlanders, backing up his composed showing against the Chiefs last week with another calm performance in front of a boisterous home crowd of 15,236.
Mauger said the support from the leadership group and the players surrounding the 23-year-old playmaker have been instrumental in helping him become accustomed to the nuances of directing a Super Rugby side around the park.
“We’ve got three quality fly halves, and he’s had the first couple of cracks and done a good job.”
With two wins under their belt to open their account for 2019, the Highlanders now head to Melbourne to face the Rebels for their first overseas match of the year.
Although the hard-fought victories were pleasing for Mauger, he said his side will need to be more ruthless in their pursuits of success, especially against Australian sides of which he believed were improving.
“Like I said earlier, [there’s] a few things to tidy up, [we’d] like to do things a bit more convincingly, especially when we put ourselves in positions to put teams away, so we need to be a bit more ruthless over the next couple of weeks if we’re really to start hitting the next gear,” he said.
“The Reds’ performance tonight is a reflection of that [improvement in Australian rugby]. They have a second-year coach who’s done a great job, and you can see his philosophy and Brad Thorn’s character come through in those Reds performances.
“[Dave] Wessels has done a great job at the Rebels as well, so expect another tough, physical encounter over in Melbourne.
“The key is to recover well and prepare well and travel well, just something we didn’t do too well last year, so that should be our plan and go over there and attack the game with a lot of energy and real clarity about what we need to do on the field.”
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
10 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
10 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
10 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments