In another look back at the Highlanders' 2013 season, ODT Online rugby contributor Jeff Cheshire gives his thoughts on what Jamie Joseph's team got right, and what they didn't.
What Went Well
Kick-off Receptions
In 2012 it seemed as though almost every time the Highlanders scored they would drop the kickoff or not clear the ball and concede points straight away. It was a real problem and the inability to clear the ball was making games far closer than they should have been.
In 2013 we have not had this problem, not on a consistent basis anyway. It may seem little consolation, but this was one of the things they needed to get better at, and they did.
The Back Three
Despite the poor form of the team, the back three were amongst the best in the competition. They constantly threatened, making inroads into the opposition defence and breaking the line on the counter. Ben Smith hardly put a foot wrong all season and was a must-have for the All Blacks, while Hosea Gear, Kade Poki and Buxton Popoalii were all dangerous every time they touched the ball.
Developing Younger Players
You know it has been a bad season when you are talking about players for the future after starting the season amongst the favourites to win the title. But that's the way it went and it certainly was a positive that so many young players came through and played well.
Liam Coltman came on leaps and bounds, getting stuck in and tackling well; TJ Ioane was outstanding too, always fighting hard and looking for work, while Elliot Dixon showed a new lease of life late in the season. Jason Emery was outstanding after being called upon in desperate circumstances, running hard and never shying away, while Hayden Parker was always reliable and could go on to be a good Super 15 player at the very least.
Better Finish to the Season
We won't say good finish, as they capitulated in the final game, but they looked better in patches and showed what could have been had they been able to find that form all season. Colin Slade ignited and everything ran through him, while the team finally seemed capable of finishing off the chances that they created. They managed to claim two wins in their last four games, in contrast to one in their first twelve.
What Did Not Go Well
Injuries and Availability of Players
This one really hurt. The Highlanders had their fair share of top-class players, only getting them all on the field proved more difficult than anyone could have predicted. In the season player ratings, we can see that the majority of the players to score 6.5 or above were injured for a reasonable length of time: the likes of Tamati Ellison, Kade Poki, Buxton Popoalii, John Hardie, Chris King, Shaun Treeby, Jamie Mackintosh and Phil Burleigh.
Add to this the injury to Nasi Manu and the fact that Mose Tuialii and TJ Ioane didn't come in until later in the season, as well as injuries which hampered Andrew Hore, Ma'a Nonu and Tony Woodcock.
Had these player all been available - or at least been more regularly available - the season could have turned out very differently.
Missed Tackles
Too many one-off tackles were missed this year, especially early in the season. To make it worse, a lot of these misses led to tries. You really cannot afford these and one miss can negate a whole lot of other good work on defence.
Catch and Pass
It may be so simple, yet so often it was a problem for the Highlanders this year. You can make all the line breaks, win all the set-piece and kick as well as you want, but if you are going to drop the amount of ball the Highlanders dropped you aren't going to win games.
Lineout
Perhaps the most problematic area for the Highlanders. Whether it was poor throwing, over-complicated moves, a lack of communication and timing or just a lack of skill, it just never clicked. You cannot win games without winning your set-piece ball, as it just makes it so hard to get possession to attack with, hence why the Highlanders mainly relied on broken play to threaten.
Ball Protection
This improved as the season progressed, but early on the ball was turned over way too many times around the breakdown and contact areas. Not enough players were over the ball quickly enough at ruck time and they were consequently pushed off it, while they dropped too much ball in contact as well. They got better at this though and perhaps unsurprisingly, they started playing better.
Halfback-First Five-Eighth
Major problems here for most of the season. Aaron Smith was taking a long time to clear the ball and was not being given enough protection from his forwards, resulting in turnovers, which suggests a lack of communication. The first five-eighths were getting bad ball and were not able to do much with it.
None of the players in these jerseys really performed consistently, which made it hard to know what the best combination was. Smith had some good games and some bad games, while Tanaka was more solid rather than spectacular. In the 10 jersey, Colin Slade blew hot and cold, Lima Sopoaga was a bit the same and Hayden Parker was still relatively raw.
Luck
You make your own luck, but you still need some things to go your way and not much went the way of the Highlanders this year. Injuries, the bounce of the ball, 50/50 TMO decisions, it just didn't seem to work out at all and were the difference in some of the close games.
The Little Things
Early on most of the losses were put down to little things. The occasional dropped ball, a missed tackle, a penalty conceded. However, if we learnt anything from this season, it was that the little things perhaps are not so little after all.
At this level one missed tackle can be the difference between a win and a loss, one dropped ball, one dumb penalty, are all crucial. The top teams minimise these mistakes, whether big or little and this was something the Highlanders didn't do well enough.
