Mains said some of the work being done by players at the breakdown was completely illegal but was being missed by match officials.
"What we are seeing are players being taken out at the breakdown who are standing well past the ball and that creates gaps for players to run into," Mains said.
"The ref has to be watching the ball, and that is the way it should be, but you wonder what the touch judges are doing. They have got to pick it up."
Mains said players were running well past the breakdown and just cleaning out players who were standing at the side of the breakdown, which was against the rules.
He said players were not being penalised and the more they got away with it, the more they would do it.
Players in the attacking side were also running in front of the player carrying the ball and getting in the way of the defence.
"It is happening all the time. They are stopping players from doing their job on defence. It is deliberate and should be really jumped on."
Mains said he could not believe why coaches of teams do not seek out officials over the tactics as they had that avenue after every game.
"I can’t understand why the coaches do not use the opportunity they have after games to make these comments ... it is happening two, three times a game and it is not penalised."
Some of the taking out of players was done so stupidly, it did not achieve much for the attacking team, he said.
Sometimes the players were simply over-enthusiastic. Some of the players were acting as guard dogs for their halfback and were being taken out.
"The touch judges should be watching more closely as there is a lot of players being taken off the ball. They do not seem to be doing what they should."
Mains said he was impressed by the performance of the Highlanders so far and said new head coach Aaron Mauger was making the right calls and the coaching team appeared to have their fingers on the pulse.
As for tonight’s game in Wellington, Mains said it was important for the Highlanders to stop the Hurricanes from scoring early and stop them getting any momentum.
