Handling errors and concentration costly: MacDonald
You can’t deny the passion [but] we’re just not accurate enough to compete yet.
Through the back end of Super Rugby Aotearoa, the Blues have played out a familiar narrative week after week.
While they have shown signs of promise, discipline and errors have been their downfall.
That was the case once more in their 29-6 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch yesterday, with handling errors a particular point of concern.
While the Blues spent more time in possession, carried the ball for over 100 metres more than the Crusaders and missed fewer tackles, they also turned over the ball 19 times and conceded 12 penalties.
Speaking after the game, Blues coach Leon MacDonald said the team needed to take ownership of the situation.
“We came down here with the mindset to really try and have a crack, to use the ball and play some rugby. We haven’t done that well in the last few games, and we got an afternoon game, so we wanted to use the ball. We made a lot of errors,” he said.
“You can’t deny the passion; the guys really tried hard. We’re just not accurate enough to compete yet. We have to eliminate more errors.
“I thought we were better around discipline. We didn’t get penalised as much as we had done in previous games, so that was a bonus, but handling errors, especially at critical times, are just costing us — especially to be a genuine threat against the top teams.
“If we can maintain the ball and get some good go-forward and fast ball, we’ve looked really good. It’s been penalties in the past few weeks and handling errors [yesterday]; a lot of them are just concentration errors.
“A lot of them, if we can take some ownership around that and tidy that up, it’s going to go a big way towards getting the performance we’re looking for.”
In a game the Blues needed to take at least a bonus point from in order to remain in the hunt for the final, they were tested early and often, eventually succumbing to the early pressure.
MacDonald noted the absence of first and second-choice captains Patrick Tuipulotu (neck/shoulder) and Tom Robinson (head knock) was evident in the early exchanges, as his side lacked some leadership to open the vital fixture.
“We had to send some messages down to calm them down a little bit. They were too keen, I think. Guys were trying to win the game on their own and shoot up out of the line to make the big play. Against the Crusaders, they love to pick off those opportunities, as they did.
“A little bit of leadership would have helped early on maybe and might not have got us behind the eight ball as far as what it was. We did show some grit to try to fight our way back into the game, but it ended up being too far in the end.”
Failing to get across the line, they were put away late in the contest and now can only look to right some wrongs before the start of Super Rugby transtasman when they host the Chiefs next weekend.
Blues coach Leon MacDonald