Tony Brown's bench tactics must come under question after Highlanders' loss
For the first 15 minutes of the Highlanders’ clash with the Crusaders in Dunedin on Friday night, the home side looked on track to set a record-winning margin over their southern rivals for the second year on the trot.
The Highlanders forwards were churning through the metres and the defending bodies on attack, Aaron Smith was delivering slick service to the backs and men such as midfielder Fetuli Paea and outside backs Sam Gilbert and Josh Timu looked that much more dangerous and incisive than they had the week prior against the Chiefs in Queenstown.
Up 13-0 with less than a quarter of the game played and all the momentum in their favour, the Highlanders looked poised to kick on and lay down a marker in the early rounds of Super Rugby Pacific.
Then disaster struck.
In the same passage of play, Timu sustained an injury to his right leg while Crusaders winger Sevu Reece managed to fight his way over the try-line from a five-metre penalty.
Reece’s score halted the Highlanders’ march but even from the next kick-off, it was clear that the fight hadn’t left the home team.
The more pressing issue was Timu’s injury, which left him limping around the park, but didn’t immediately force him from the field.
Moments later, the Crusaders exploited Timu’s obvious discomfort, with Will Jordan popping a kick over the top of the Highlander’s head for Reece to run on to.
The man who’d scored the Crusaders’ opening try just moments earlier collected the ball – with Timu not able to turn and chase with any real conviction – and sent a kick into the Highlanders 22, where Mitch Hunt collected the ball and kicked the ball out under pressure, handing the Crusaders a prime attacking opportunity.
Highlanders coach Tony Brown had seen enough and understandably hooked Timu from the field.
In most situations, losing an outside back so early in the match wouldn’t be a death knell to any team’s fortunes, but Brown had rolled the dice with his team selections and named just two backs in the reserves, halfback Folau Fakatava and pivot Marty Banks.
Banks entered the fray in Timu’s place and from that point on, the Highlanders never really looked the same on attack.
For all of Banks’ years of experience and nous – this is the man who kicked a drop goal to cement the Highlanders their first and only Super Rugby title back in 2015, remember – the 32-year-old could hardly be called a dynamic ball-running option and quickly slotted in at fullback, and Connor Garden-Bachop, one of the best attackers in the Highlanders’ arsenal, switching onto the wing.
One injury had effectively forced a complete reshuffle of the Highlanders backline and while Brown had indicated they were going for a more conservative mindset against the Crusaders than they had the week before, with Mosese Dawai and Scott Gregory both dropping out of the 23, they appeared to have lost all their attacking nous once Timu left the park.
Thomas Umaga-Jensen and Garden-Bachop – two men who returned to the starting line-up for the first time after long stints on the sidelines and two of the Highlanders’ more potent attacking options – were rarely given the ball with room to move in the second half while Hunt, perched at the back, simply didn’t have the gas to ignite his side’s counter-attack.
“We’ve always sort of favoured the 6-2 split previously,” Brown said of his forwards-backs split ahead of the game.
“We just feel as though our loose forwards are a big strength of ours. We feel that both Hugh [Renton] and Marino [Mikaele-Tu’u] can give us a massive impact off the bench so looking forward to getting them out there and seeing what they can do.”
Unfortunately, Timu’s early injury meant the Highlanders never got to make the most of their extra loose forward on the bench. Hugh Renton remained on the sidelines until the final five minutes of the match, presumably in the event that another injury occurred, which would have forced the Highlanders to play with just 14 men.
Brown’s justification for wanting an extra loose forward in the reserves is sound enough but it’s a policy that can leave your team hamstrung if one of your backs is struck down by injury early – which is hardly an unfathomable event in this day and age of attritional rugby and exactly what happened on Friday night.
Dawai and Gregory may not have covered themselves in glory against the Chiefs but they certainly didn’t go from being good enough to start a Super Rugby match to not being worthy of even a spot on the bench, and the selection tactic employed by Brown was badly found out against the Crusaders.
The best-case scenario would have seen the Highlanders introduce some fresh legs to their loose forwards later in the piece, which is a small upside, while the worst-case scenario is considerably more impactful and potentially cost the Highlanders the match.
As Brown alluded to, it’s a tactic the Highlanders have employed regularly in the past, with an additional loose forward being named on the bench in every match bar two last year, and evidently Brown has seen enough in those games to determine it’s the right way forward.
Curiously, it’s not a tactic any of the other New Zealand Super Rugby sides have ever employed, despite some of them arguably boasting stronger depth in the loose forwards than the southerners.
Tony Brown is one of the most tactically astute coaches in New Zealand and it would be wrong to suggest outright that there isn’t any merit to doubling up loose forwards on the bench.
However, after Friday night’s defeat, Brown may want to rethink the tactic lest another similar situation unfurls in the future.
Comments on RugbyPass
Huge engine this guy and great to see him back ..The amount of clean outs he does at the ruck are ridiculous !!
3 Go to commentsThe level of desperation in this article is just embarrassing.
215 Go to commentsSome silly trolling in the comments.
8 Go to commentsEverywhere you turn some irish journo is advocating Ireland as the greatest, reasoning that the wc is a 4 year cycle event so, they say wc doesn’t matter it’s the rugby in between that should account for the accolade. If there was no wc then some substance could be gained, however in my opinion the moment that defined Ireland’s fate against the abs was 37 phases of repeated head bashing against a brick wall. If a change in strategy or a tinker with the game plan was executed then things could've been vastly different. And to point a finger the let down was in the hands of the number 10.
37 Go to commentsI have heard it asked if RA is essentially one of the part owners and I suppose therefor should be on the other side of these two parties. If they purchased the rebels and guaranteed them, and are responsible enough they incur Rebels penalties, where is this line drawn? Seems rough to have to pay a penalty for something were your involvement sees you on the side of the conned party, the creditors. If the Rebels directors themselves have given the club their money, 6mil worth right, why aren’t they also listed as sitting with RA and the Tax office? And the legal threat was either way, new Rebels or defunct, I can’t see how RA assume the threat was less likely enough to warrant comment about it in this article. Surely RA ignore that and only worry about whether they can defend it or not, which they have reported as being comfortable with. So in effect wouldn’t it be more accurate to say there is no further legal threat (or worry) in denying the deal. Unless the directors have reneged on that. > Returns of a Japanese team or even Argentinean side, the Jaguares, were said to be on the cards, as were the ideas of standing up brand new teams in Hawaii or even Los Angeles – crazy ideas that seemingly forgot the time zone issues often cited as a turn-off for viewers when the competition contained teams from South Africa. Those timezones are great for SR and are what will probably be needed to unlock its future (cant see it remaining without _atleast _help from Aus), day games here are night games on the West Coast of america, were potential viewers triple, win win. With one of the best and easiest ways to unlock that being to play games or a host a team there. Less good the further across Aus you get though. Jaguares wouldn’t be the same Jaguares, but I still would think it’s better having them than keeping the Rebels. The other options aren’t really realistic 25’ options, no. From reading this authors last article I think if the new board can get the investment they seem to be confident in, you keeping them simply for the amount of money they’ll be investing in the game. Then ditch them later if they’re not good enough without such a high budget. Use them to get Jaguares reintergration stronger, with more key players on board, and have success drive success.
15 Go to commentsYeah, and ours is waaay bigger than yours. Just as you's get a semi…oh hold on that never happens
37 Go to commentsLove watching
1 Go to commentsThe Melbourne Rebels lineout is a complete disaster so not surprisingly a kiwi coach of the Wallabies hires the worst lineout coach in the country and a foreigner to boot. No surprises whatsoever here…….
3 Go to commentsThank your for wasting 2 minutes of my life Daniel. There is a useful message in there somewhere but your delivery sucks.
7 Go to commentsBen Smith, you are cry baby
215 Go to commentsSux that homophobia is still a thing though. I wonder how many players who could have become legends never kept playing rugby because they felt unwelcome.
7 Go to commentsCrazy he’s only 28, feel like he’s been around forever - don’t mind the move, safe pair of hands and creates depth in a thin position for ABs. Hopefully aides Kemara’s growth also without thrusting too much responsibility on him
1 Go to commentsMen should show strength and be mean, but they should be able to show emotion to those close yo them in certain times, birth of your child, death of family, proud moment. This article is stupid
7 Go to commentsWhat a weak article…absolute drivel and clickbait, well done. Will stick to rugby365 thanks
7 Go to commentsHonest, discipline, humility… Priceless.
2 Go to commentsSo many excuses. No mention of the SA number 2 being taken out illegally in the 2nd minute. That act of foul play had a massive impact on the SA game. Face it, NZ play pretty dirty very regularly, and it’s only since 2016 they’ve been held to higher officiating standards via stricter officiating and TMO reviews. They deserved to have a man down. Sorry. Fix the yellow and red cards and NZ will win more RWCs. Plus, there WAS a knock on invalidating the one try, so it was NOT a try. Period. Here’s a Kleenex…
215 Go to commentsOverheard conversation between NZ and SA rugby fans everywhere: We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! We’re the greatest! No we’re the greatest! Ireland are arrogant! True but they beat you! We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! Etc. etc, etc.
37 Go to commentsTypical crap Aussie weather
11 Go to comments“If they’d have beaten England, I still feel we would have been talking ‘is this the best team ever,’ ‘is this the best team that’s ever played in the Six Nations'” he said. “I still think they’re not quite that good. I actually don’t think they’re that good.” So Trimble is saying he doesn’t think this is the best 6N team of all time. He is silent on if it is the best Irish team of all time. Can’t disagree with him. Just another misrepresentative clickbait headline from the guys at RP.
37 Go to commentsWow, do we really still have to listen to all the excuses and “unfairness” of it all. Even blaming the bounce of an egg shaped ball for the loss. But the article is about context, so what about the Springboks having to play the other 5 teams in the top 6 and still beating a comparatively rested AB team on a very empty tank.
215 Go to comments