Highlanders assistant coach Tony Brown leaned back a fraction and allowed himself a chuckle when asked if the coaching situation was a distraction.
‘‘It is probably more of a distraction for the Hurricanes,'' Brown quipped.
‘‘I see Boydie [Chris Boyd] was on the news saying that Plum [John Plumtree] was going to take the job. I found it quite strange that it wasn't Plum saying that.''
Highlanders head coach Jamie Joseph is departing the franchise at the end of the season and just who is shaping as his replacement has been in the headlines this week.
Hurricanes assistant coach Plumtree was linked to the role on Monday but it was Hurricanes head coach Boyd who fronted the media pack.
‘‘His family's settled here and his boys are settled at Wellington College and he's a big family man, so I'd say that his strong preference would be to stay in Wellington,'' Boyd told the gathered media.
Brown, who many felt was a natural successor for Joseph before he ruled himself out, said the coaching situation was not really a big talking point, however.
‘‘None of the guys have really talked about it. Away from rugby the boys might mention it. But we have a massive second half of the season coming up, so that is our focus, really.''
Brown is more comfortable in the hands-on role of assistant coach and has been busy during the Highlanders' bye week making sure there is no repeat of the pre-holiday malaise which saw the Highlanders put in a dismal defensive display during the opening half of their 28-27 loss to the Reds in Brisbane a week ago.
‘‘We just didn't prepare that well,'' Brown said.
‘‘Individually we were a little bit off and that led to a pretty poor performance.''
Brown felt the poor preparation was a combination of players winding down before the break, the travel, the Brisbane heat and perhaps even some old-fashioned complacency.
‘‘Little things like that I think made it hard for the players to really focus themselves mentally.
‘‘When you are not there mentally, the first thing to go is your defence.
''The good news is the lacklustre effort in Brisbane has been replaced by a renewed determination to ‘‘entertain with some really fast rugby'' and to be more disciplined on defence.
The idea is to keep the Sharks' big pack running from start to finish at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Friday night.
‘‘If you look at the big picture, these next four games are going to determine where we are at as a team. We are either going to be in a good position or we're going to be really struggling to make the playoffs.
‘‘But as a squad we are just looking at this real physical challenge against the Sharks and preparing as well as we can.
‘‘When the Highlanders play their best, they look to move the ball and against a big team that is what we have to do to be competitive. So that will be our plan.''
Meanwhile, Highlanders try-scoring machine Waisake Naholo is behind schedule in his recovery from a leg fracture and may not be ready to return for at least another two weeks.
The Highlanders had hoped the Fiji-born winger would be ready to play against the Sharks on Friday, but Brown said Naholo was 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. ‘‘Once he can take a bit of contact we'll make a plan for him.''
- Additional reporting Reuters
