Highlanders coach Glenn Moore has revealed his concern at the discipline issues and fundamental errors that are spoiling the promising signs his side has shown in the Super 14.
While the Highlanders are trailing in 12th with three consecutive losses, all have been by a small margin, and their 12-15 loss to the Waratahs at Carisbrook on Saturday was another indication they are not drastically off the pace.
But poor kicking, both for goal and for touch, and shoddy discipline are not helping the cause.
Mike Delany gifted the Waratahs a try with a skewed chipkick, James Wilson struggled to find his kicking radar, and experienced lock Tom Donnelly became the third Highlanders forward in consecutive weeks to receive a yellow card.
‘‘We've made some basic fundamental errors with our kicking,'' Moore said.
‘‘We missed two or three penalty kicks for touch, which you just can't do at this level. I'll have to have a closer look at Tom's yellow card. But it's something we've talked about, that we have to be disciplined, because we can't afford to be down to 14 players. It's a bit of an issue at the moment.''
Moore does not see any difficulty in getting his inexperienced players back on their feet after three losses to face the inform Hurricanes at Carisbrook on Friday night.
‘‘They're professional sportspeople. We feel a bit dinted tonight but we'll refocus and I'm sure they'll get up for next week without any issues at all.''
The Highlanders have one fresh injury to assess, with lockflanker Hayden Triggs leaving the field early against the Waratahs with an eye injury.
Captain Craig Newby is expected to be available, creating a real selection headache as Newby is a blindside flanker or No 8, and both Adam Thomson and Steven Setephano have been in excellent form.
It was a wet old night at Carisbrook on Saturday, which affected both sides' ability to spread the ball.
‘‘We rejigged our plans a little bit. We wanted to attack a little bit wider but conditions just eliminated the ability to do that,'' Moore said.
‘‘We tried to get a few pick and goes going and get in behind them. And we defended with a lot of heart.
‘‘Territory in the second half was a primary focus and they dominated it better than us. We thought whoever scored first in the second half was probably going to be in the box seat and unfortunately it was them.''
After a fairly predictable weekend, the soaring Blues and Crusaders and the strongfinishing Sharks all remain unbeaten.
The Blues posted another half-century in beating the Cheetahs 50-26 in Bloemfontein, while the Crusaders had control from start to finish to beat the Stormers 22-0 and have their first unbeaten trip to South Africa in six years.
In a repeat of last year's final albeit at a different ground, the Sharks romped home in the second half to beat the faltering Bulls 29-15.
The Force clung on to beat the Lions 18-16 at Ellis Park and the Brumbies smashed the Reds 43-11 in the Australian derby at Canberra Stadium.
