Mauger concedes side made ‘a couple of errors’

HIGHLANDERS coach Aaron Mauger said his side was expecting an aerial bombardment last night and had trained for it — but winning it is another matter.

The Highlanders coach said the side just failed to execute well enough at vital times and dropped a few too many balls in the loss to the Sharks last night.

‘‘I though the Sharks were very good and executed their game very well. For us, we just did not secure the ball in the first half and let them play their game,’’ Mauger said.

‘‘We could not secure the high ball, lost a few turnovers — I think we conceded five turnovers in the first half and that worked right into the Sharks game.’’

The Highlanders needed to improve in those areas.

‘‘They were very good in the contests in the air — we just need to be better with those. In the first half they got a couple of odd tries really. We didn't really do anything wrong defensively. It was more around a couple of errors we made and they were pretty sharp with some sharp outside backs.’’

The Highlanders, on the other hand, made a few mistakes on attack, dropping the ball when chances came calling. They could have scored a couple of tries in the first half but failed to hold on to the ball for long enough.

‘‘We had guys there who had the line wide open but did not take the opportunity while they did. I think we could have been a little bit better with our departures.

‘‘First game so there is going to be some rust there. But we are certainly creating opportunities and everyone keeps driving in our plans, just execution in those plans have to be better.’’

He felt the chip kicks put in by the side helped break the game up and fractured their defensive line.

He felt Josh Ioane was outstanding at second fiveeighth — strong on defence and threatening on attack with the ball in hand.

He admitted the aerial kicking route favoured by the Sharks was likely to be seen again by the Highlanders. Next week's opponent, the Brumbies, is bound to present a similar game plan.

‘‘We just have to do more work. We had done a lot of work, the guys were peppered during the week with the high ball. We just need to be a bit more aggressive in the air, need to be better there and that is what was creating some pressure for the Sharks.’’

Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am said his side was striving for consistency — and that is what it got.

The last 10 minutes of the first half was the key to the side’s success.

‘‘We managed to capitalise on the errors and transition from defence to attack quite quickly,’’ he said.

Winning away from home was a bonus, he said, and although the side had a potent attacking back three, scoring four tries, he felt the team did not make enough use of them.

The Sharks now head to Wellington to take on the Hurricanes on Saturday night while the Highlanders go to Canberra to play the Brumbies, again on Saturday night.