Delaney on defensive
Forget the mound of points the Highlanders have conceded this season, defence coach Glenn Delaney is adamant his system is good enough to win the Super Rugby championship.
‘‘Of course it is. Absolutely. It’s definitely good enough to win the competition,’’ a defiant Delaney told Stuff.
Given the Highlanders have leaked 127 points in their past three games, and this season have conceded the equal most (445 points) of the eight playoff teams, there is doubt whether they can make a playoff run.
It’s not just the points against statistic, it’s also the grim amount of missed tackles and clean line-breaks they gave up against the Chiefs, Crusaders and Rebels.
Delaney accepts they need to get better, and quickly, with Saturday night’s quarterfinal against the Waratahs in Sydney being a rematch of their 41-12 shellacking earlier this season.
He believes they can, and points to the team’s 30-14 win against the Hurricanes last month, when they tackled themselves to a standstill.
‘‘We’ve got to make sure we’ve got people in the right places and the tackle height is good and low. We’re at our best when our individual tackle detail is topnotch,’’ Delaney said.
‘‘We have to be a really good technical side just because the way that we defend.’’
It hasn’t happened of late. The Chiefs and Crusaders each poured in 45 points in convincing wins, before the Rebels notched 37 in Dunedin on Saturday night. It was the sixth game the Highlanders have conceded at least 34 points.
‘‘We’ve had a couple of rough halves over the last three games and we certainly paid the price for it. What it doesn’t do is dent the confidence in our ability to defend. We will keep working away at the core basics and I’m sure they will stand us in good stead,’’ Delaney said.
On the other hand, Waratahs guns Israel Folau, colossal wing Taqele Naiyaravoro, midfielder Kurtley Beale and pivot Bernard Foley are surely frothing at the prospect of again running them around Allianz Stadium.
Admittedly, the Highlanders played 10 minutes with 13 men, and 50 odd minutes with 14 last time out, after Tevita Nabura (red card) and Aaron Smith (yellow) got on the wrong side of the law, but take nothing away from the Australians.
The good news for the Highlanders this week is they’re re-energised and fully healthy.
Fresh from resting a stack of players last weekend, including Ben Smith, Aaron Smith, Luke Whitelock and Rob Thompson, Delaney confirmed the entire squad trained yesterday morning.
‘‘Probably the hardest part is who do you leave out of a pretty competitive squad? You’ve got fit players that won’t end up making that 23,’’ he said.
First-year head coach Aaron Mauger will name his squad tomorrow, before they fly out of Auckland.
Should the Highlanders win, and the Lions beat the Jaguares at home, they’ll head to South Africa on Sunday morning for a crunch semifinal in Johannesburg.
Delaney said they’d address that hurdle if it came to it. In the meantime, he’s all in on the Waratahs.
‘‘They’ve played pretty well right the way through to end up with the right to host a home quarterfinal. You take them on balance that it’s a long time ago that we played. They’ve evolved, and so have we. From that side, it’s going to be a fair, even money contest between two good sides.’’