For the Highlanders, there were far too many of those mistakes last night.
They were beaten 28-22 by the Rebels at Forsyth Barr Stadium in an error-ridden performance.
A terrible start left them trailing 21-0.
They fought back, but were unable to execute well enough to draw level.
Dropped balls, poor passes and an inaccurate lineout plagued the side.
Not only did that prevent them using the ball they had, it provided the Rebels with the majority of their own opportunities.
Andrew Kellaway scored twice from long range off Highlanders' errors, while the Rebels' other tries came from pressure resulting from turnovers.
It was an assessment with which coach Aaron Mauger agreed.
"We put our own game under pressure by trying to force things and giving them a couple of runaway tries doesn't help,'' he said.
"Just not really taking opportunities ourselves when we're creating them.
"The game can be easy for us if we take those opportunities and stop trying to force things.
"It's probably a reflection of a young team, but we don't really want to be standing here saying the same things for the next couple of weeks; we've got to take those lessons."
To compound matters, the side has probably lost its captain for the rest of the season.
Openside flanker James Lentjes was cleaned out on the half-hour mark and was left on the ground in visible agony.
He was taken to hospital with a broken leg.
Mauger said it would be a big loss, as Lentjes had been outstanding all season.
The Highlanders were under pressure early, but it was pressure they put on themselves.
That told as Rebels second five-eighth Bill Meakes cruised through a gap from a Matt Toomua offload to give the visiting side a 7-0 lead after eight minutes.
Hooker Anaru Rangi doubled that from a lineout drive five minutes later.
It became 21-0 at the 20-minute mark when Kellaway pounced on a dropped ball and ran 70m to score.
However, the Highlanders fought back.
A counterruck 5m metres from the line yielded a turnover and they found space out wide for Josh McKay to run in.
That made it 21-7, although two injuries followed.
Lentjes and Daniel Lienert-Brown left the field with ankle injuries within five minutes of each other.
But the fight continued.
Jona Nareki was denied when down metres out after a 50m break up the left.
Not long after, Aaron Smith touched down on halftime to pull it back to 21-14.
A short ball from Ash Dixon put Siate Tokolahi into space and he linked with Jesse Parete, who threw a second brilliant pass for Smith to score.
The home team went close to drawing level shortly after the break, but Marino Mikaele-Tu'u was unable to stretch far enough to get the ball to the line.
The Highlanders had turned down two easy shots at goal in the lead-in, allowing the Rebels to escape.
That was compounded when Kellaway again pounced, this time intercepting a Smith cut-out pass to run 60m to score.
Another chance slipped away minutes later when a dropped ball from Liam Coltman squandered an overlap and a sure-fire try.
They kept the pressure on and eventually crossed, creating an overlap for Scott Gregory to score on debut.
Gregory was yellow-carded minutes later for a tackle in the air, but Meakes followed him shortly afterwards and Ioane reduced the deficit by three.
The Highlanders made a final push late in the game, although that was ended when Nareki was harshly yellow-carded after a collision in the air.
The side will now travel to South Africa to face the Bulls in Pretoria, followed by a trip to Argentina to play the Jaguares.