ODT Online rugby writer Jeff Cheshire provides five key points from the Highlanders loss to the Lions on Sunday.
The influence of altitude
The Highlanders played the first half with a clear intent to speed the game up. From the get-go they looked to play with width from first-phase and took quick lineouts where possible. It is a similar tactic to the one they employ at home and the objective was clearly to try to run the Lions off their feet. What eventuated was almost the opposite, as the Highlanders ran themselves off their own feet. The speed and intensity in support play was not there in the second half and consequently they struggled to hold the ball and apply pressure. That is what playing at high altitude, where the air is thinner, will do to you. For a young team is a great learning curve, as the majority of these men have not had whole lot of experience playing in these conditions. Now that they know how the effect it can have, they can use that to be better next week.
Lack of attacking threat
One of the Highlanders most attractive features this year has been their ability to strike from anywhere on the park with multiple attacking weapons. Neither winger was able to impose themselves, with Waisake Naholo making a couple of breaks and Patrick Osborne struggling to find any space. You had Malakai Fekitoa, so well looked after in the midfield, and Lima Sopoaga who struggled to create the way he can. Ben Smith was the best of the regular threats, but he too was well looked after, despite getting his hands on the ball during multiple attacking sequences. Inevitably this was telling, as it always is when one of your key features is negated. Aside from a ten minute period at the end of the first half, the Highlanders did not look like threatening and the 20-3 score line certainly flattered them. It was 6-3 prior to that run, which was more representative of how the first half had gone. To win games in this competition, you really need to play more than ten minutes of quality rugby.
Slow support at the breakdown
It certainly did not help when it came to holding onto the ball that the breakdown support was a second or two too slow. This meant that the tackler, or first arriving player, had free rein to use his hands, as the support player was not there to form a ruck. Of course once the ruck has formed, those men cannot use their hands, so having players close-by and quickly in support is of huge importance to form the ruck before they can recover the ball. Even if they do get there a split-second earlier, at least it gives you the opportunity to clean them out so they do not have an impact.
Both teams were a bit slow when it came to this, particularly in the second half and something of a free-for-all ensued at the tackle situation. It made the breakdowns look a lot messier than they should have been and did not help one bit with ball retention. No doubt it was a by-product of the speed the game was played at early on, but whatever speed you play at, you need to ensure you have the fitness to back that up later in the game.
Lack of presence in the tight
The one area where the Lions really got the upper-hand over the Highlanders was in the tight. While the backs did not fire, they were no worse than their opposites, while both teams were potent at times in the loose. In the tight though, the Highlanders certainly came off second best. It was ominous from the first scrum and continued on throughout the game, as they were pushed around in the scrum and could not find a way to stop the rolling maul. Of all the tight five players, only Liam Coltman really made an impact, with Brendon Edmunds too having his moments. They lacked some grunt at set-piece, while hardly making an impact in general play. Tom Franklin, normally an impressive lock with a high work-rate, was quiet, as was partner Mark Reddish and prop Josh Hohneck. When the reserves came on, it only seemed to get worse, although by this stage momentum had swung and it can be hard for a new player to do much about that. Whether the scrum penalties the Lions were awarded were all justified is another question, as is whether their maul tactics which saw players in front unbound from those behind. Regardless of this though, the Highlanders were under pressure in those areas and it is always on that you could get a few calls go against you when you are not the dominant team in close.
Lions are not a terrible team
Do not underestimate this Lions team. They are not the Lions of years gone by, where they have been typically awful. This team won three of their four games on their Australasian road trip and have beaten the Bulls, Sharks and Cheetahs since. They are now also just three competition points behind the Highlanders, although have played one extra game, and remain an outside chance to make the playoffs.
