The Breakdown
Otago were just too slow and dit not enough numbers, allowing Tasman to turnover too much ball. On your own ball you have to commit enough numbers to ensure you retain possession, but Otago didn't do this and the quality Tasman loose forwards pounced. Even when they were winning their own ball they were so often doing so on the back foot, meaning the backs were under pressure and hardly had any chance to threaten.
Set-Piece
The lineout wasn't too bad given the amount of pressure it was under, but the scrum struggled all night. When you are struggling to gain quality ball, it is important to win your scrum ball, as this should be your primary source of possession. However, the Tasman scrum was just too powerful and consequently Otago saw little good ball to work with. You can get away with this for patches, but if it lingers it is eventually going to catch up to you, which it did as was evidenced by the scoreboard.
Missed Tackles
Perhaps you have to give the dangerous Tasman backs some credit here, but there were too many tackles fallen off and too many defensive lapses which led to tries or the team being put under pressure. In contrast, the Tasman defence was strong all night and Otago only crossed the line once.
Lack of Energy
Perhaps the team was on a bit of a downer after losing the Ranfurly Shield, but they just looked flat all night, which was perhaps why the above three things were issues. Other than TJ Ioane, no-one really took the ball into contact with any sort of conviction and the overall physicality of the team was lacking, while Tasman looked up for it in every sense. The backs did not look threatening at all either, although it is pretty hard for them to operate well when they are not getting any sort of front foot ball.
The Loose forwards
In the first three games the loose forwards have been the area where Otago has excelled, being strong at the breakdown, running and linking well, while also making plenty of tackles. On Friday night a new trio took to the field, one which struggled, being comprehensively outplayed by their opposites. This too could come as a result of the lack of physicality in the tight, which meant they had to play tighter themselves and were not able to be as effective in the loose. But too many times they were beaten to the breakdown by their opposites and just struggled to stamp their authority.
