With the Highlanders having a bye this week in the Super 15 competition, ODT Online rugby contributor Jeff Cheshire looks at what has gone right for the team so far this season, and what they need to work on.
Positives
The Back Three
The outside backs can quite often find it hard to perform in a team that is struggling. You cannot say that about this back three though, as they continue to be outstanding in every game.
Ben Smith's form has been the best of any fullback in the competition, constantly finding gaps on the counterattack, while also proving very strong defensively. The wingers too have been strong, with Hosea Gear looking to get his hands on the ball often and proving devastating when doing so, while Kade Poki and Buxton Popoalii have both been threatening.
The first-choice back three of Smith, Gear and Poki all appear at top of the list for most line breaks in the competition, while Poki and Gear have shown themselves as adept as anyone at finding their way to the line.
It seems simple, but sometimes that is all there is to it. Do the basics well, take your chances and you will win games. The teams that are winning are doing this, unfortunately the Highlanders are not.
Young Talent Performing
It can be hard to see the positives of all the injuries that have plagued the Highlanders this year, but if there is any silver lining it has to be the amount of young talent that has been blooded.
Jason Emery has been outstanding after being thrown in at a relatively early stage of his career to cover a multitude of injuries. He has barely put a foot wrong, running hard and showing his ability to offload, while also proving generally good on defence.
TJ Ioane too has been very good and has added some much needed aggression to the loose forwards. He looks for work often and always tries to make an impact with whatever he does, fighting for every metre with ball in hand and looking to knock the opposition backwards on defence.
Hayden Parker has kicked well and ran incisively in his first two games, while Liam Coltman has gotten involved and not looked out of place either.
If these players can be retained, the Highlanders will certainly benefit from this in years to come and makes the first half of this season not a complete failure.
No Off-Field Dramas
Sure this may be small consolation to the fans who demand wins. But it must be said that off the field the Highlanders team has been as good as any. In a season where we have already had incidents at the Crusaders, Hurricanes and Blues, it is certainly a positive to see that any bad press surrounding the Highlanders has been for their on-field slip ups, not their off-field ones.
They Are Not Easybeats
Eight losses from eight games might not indicate this, but the Highlanders certainly have not been easybeats this year. In almost every game they have made their opposition work hard to win and in a lot of cases one or two key moments have been the difference between a win and a loss.
The first game of the season saw them remain in the game until an unlucky try to Tim Nanai-Williams allowed the Chiefs to pull away, while the Hurricanes, Reds and Brumbies all came out on the right side of a couple of lucky breaks. The Crusaders were made to work extremely hard for their points last week, while despite a dominant first half, the Cheetahs lost the second half in what was probably the Highlanders' worst game of the year.
These are not hallmarks of a team that is getting thrashed every week and it is only going to take a few things to start going their way for a win to come.
Things They Need To Work On
Set-Piece
Of all the work-ons this is perhaps the most urgent. To put it bluntly, the set-piece has been absolutely abysmal this year and as we all know, you cannot expect to win rugby games without a strong platform up front.
The lineout has been a lottery, with only Josh Bekhuis looking anything like a remotely safe option. Simplifying the moves would go a long way towards fixing this, as the occasions where it has functioned well have been when there has been little movement. Movement is supposed to confuse the opposition, but it seems to be causing confusion amongst the team too and which makes it so much harder for the thrower to be accurate.
The South African teams are the best in this area of the game in the competition and all of them use a very simple but effective lineout.
The scrum too has struggled and has been under pressure in nearly every game, summed up by the pack getting pushed backwards by seven men against the Crusaders. It is hard to fathom why this should be the case when you consider the tight five has three All Blacks renowned for their strength in this area. Whatever the reason for it, it needs fixed now, because as was mentioned earlier, you cannot win rugby games without a strong set-piece.
One-Off Tackles
It must be said the defence in general has not been bad this year. But all that is put to waste when standard one-on-one tackles are missed at crucial times. Too many soft tries have been conceded by simply falling off a tackle, with the attacking player not having to do anything special to get over the line.
Indeed many of the losses could have been wins had it not been for this, as tries of this nature were given up against the Hurricanes, Reds, Brumbies, Cheetahs and Chiefs. In a close affair between two even teams, the one who makes their tackles will usually prevail, hence why the Highlanders are currently winless this season.
Basic Skills
Catching and passing are the most basic of skills of rugby. But at times this season they are skills that have eluded the Highlanders. Too often opportunities have been squandered by a dropped ball or a bad pass, which has prevented them from capitalising on all the good they have been doingIt seems simple, but sometimes that is all there is to it.
Do the basics well, take your chances and you will win games. The teams that are winning are doing this, unfortunately the Highlanders are not.
Protect the Ball
This is somewhat similar to the previous point, but extends to all areas of the game, especially the breakdown. The past two seasons saw the Highlanders as the most dominant team in the competition at this area, committing plenty of men and literally smashing their opposition here.
We have not seen this in 2013 though, as fewer players are committing and the ones that are committing have been less accurate. This has meant possession has either been turned over, or that the halfback has had to deal with messy ball and has had a tough job providing good service to his backs.
On defence whether you commit is optional. It comes down to whether you want to pressure the opposition ruck ball, or just back your defence and pick your moment to go for a turnover. But on attack you do not have this luxury. You have to get numbers over the ball, or you get pushed off it, as has happened to the Highlanders all too often this year.
Put Players into Gaps on Attack
It has been hard to pin-point a definite game-plan this season, but one thing that does not seem to be happening is putting players into gaps. Instead they are trying to smash their way through, looking to take contact rather than avoid it.
Of course taking contact is not a bad thing all together. But when it is all that is happening it gets predictable and easy to defend. In Ma'a Nonu the Highlanders have one of the most dangerous players in world rugby, but he never seems to get the ball in space, always having to create for himself.
Much the same could be said about the likes of Hosea Gear and Kade Poki, who more often than not make their breaks from individual brilliance, rather than from the work of those inside them.
The Chiefs do it well with Aaron Cruden at the pivot, while Quade Cooper ensures he gets the best out of a dangerous Reds backline. Imagine if the Highlanders started operating as slickly as these two, they would be tough to beat.
