Performance ‘much better’ than previous week, coach believes
HIGHLANDERS coach Aaron Mauger says his side took a step forward last night but needs to learn how to be clinical.
Mauger was impressed with the physicality and energy of his side, despite it going down 4522 to the Crusaders in Christchurch.
‘‘A lot of that performance we can be really proud of. The Cru saders are very clinical and they picked on a couple of defensive connections which we didn’t quite get,’’ he said.
‘‘I thought our intent was awesome and our physicality was great. We dominated in the collisions, which is something we concentrated on during the week. They are a quality side and they made the most of their opportunities. We felt we were not far off at all.’’
He said the try conceded right on halftime was a big blow for the side and gave the home team plenty of momentum going into the second half.
The scoreline was exactly the same as the loss to the Chiefs in Suva last week, but Mauger said they were two totally different performances.
‘‘I thought our performance tonight was much better than last week. I thought our performance tonight was like the last 40 minutes last week. That last 120 minutes we have played we have to be pretty happy with.
‘‘They are a hard team to break down, but once we broke them down we scored points . . . I thought our pressure at the breakdown was quite good. But when we did not quite get the numbers right there that narrowed us up a but and that lost a few of those connections.’’
The side has its last regular game of the season against the Rebels next Saturday night at Forsyth Barr Stadium, and Mauger said that was a game to get excited about.
Winger Richard Buckman left the field at halftime with a hamstring strain, but it does not appear to be too serious.