SRP Round 6 - Coaches comments

It's a bye week for both the Blues and Chiefs, and both go into their break with plenty to think about, but from different ends of the Super Rugby Pacific points table – the Chiefs sitting on top and the Blues one point off last place.

Moana Pasifika v Chiefs

Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan

McMillan said both teams seemed to be running uphill, and while they were happy to get the win, they were disappointed, especially having been in complete control in the first half and then losing their way in the second.

"You have got to give a lot of credit to Moana, who tightened the game up, got more direct and physical, and we didn't respond.

"It's been a tough six weeks and the boys deserve an opportunity to go away and recharge their batteries. We'll have a good look at that over the next couple of days and find some specifics about where it all went wrong. But we still found enough in the tank to get over at the end and secure the victory.

"Clearly, we aren't the finished product. We keep learning and growing. It's a long way to go in the competition, and we'd be worried if we were playing our best rugby now.

"That first half was as good as any I've seen from the Chiefs in my time at the team. Off the back of a tough Blues game, we dusted ourselves off and turned up at the beginning of the week with a good mindset. We wanted to play well.

"We respected Moana Pasifika, who have been much improved and strong. Coming off a bye, we knew they had plenty of energy. Right through the warm-up, I saw that our intent and focus were where they needed to be, and, as a result, we played some sublime rugby.

"But the game of rugby is 80 minutes not 40."

Moana Pasifika coach Tana Umaga

Umaga said the Chiefs exerted a lot of early pressure by coming out of the blocks quickly.

"We weren't able to withstand it and get into our game. We have got to give credit to the Chiefs for putting that pressure on us.

"At halftime, I said we hadn't seen our game yet, and I would like to see it. The players talked around building a bit of character to see the response we needed to lift our game, especially in front of our home crowd in Pukekohe.

"We got close, and again, it's around not giving teams such a big head start on us because we know we can score points once we get our game started.

"We can take some positives out of the heart we have, our willingness to fight back and that never-give-up attitude we've developed. It's around getting those starts and being ruthless in implementing our plan."

Captain Tom Savage

Savage said the players felt at halftime they needed to get some belief back in their game.

"We wanted to try and turn the momentum a bit, stick to the plan we put in place and as soon as we started doing that, things started to work in our favour. I don't think it's completely back to the drawing board. It's just getting on the same page with everyone and implementing our game as fast as possible."

Highlanders v Reds

Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph

The performance was a mixed bag. We're disappointed at the outcome.

"We started well, and the next thing were two tries down. But then to fight back into the match in the first half and go into halftime with the lead was good work. We were patient and scored points.

"But there was a couple of soft moments after halftime, some poor penalties and then our scrum came under pressure and the game changed. The unforeseen happened. We got a yellow card and you get a concussion to your other tighthead and the team started unravelling."

Joseph was disappointed with scrum issues in the game. The Highlanders didn't adapt and lost confidence. While the lineout performed well, there were still issues.

"Winning the ball is one thing, and then being able to get the ball to turn it into quality attacking ball is another challenge.

"We won the ball well, and we gave a bad tap or something to our halfback, and then they put us under pressure, and we're on the back foot. The small things in our game are compounding to bigger things.

"Too many errors, too many penalties in the second half and that's the area we've got to fix."

Captain Timoci Tavatavanawai

"The accuracy wasn't there in the second half. We were trying to overplay a bit. We need to be accurate and take the opportunities when they are given to us."

Blues v Crusaders

Crusaders coach Rob Penney

"We wanted to get rid of the 'away victory' issue. We've had a couple of good weeks and the leadership guys are managing the emotional side of it brilliantly."

He said having selection depth was enjoyable, which was reflected in wing Chay Fihaki's performance when playing ahead of Macca Springer, who scored five tries in their last game.

"We moved Chay to the side to give Macca an opportunity, and he [Fihaki] took it again. It's a joy to have the boys' depth and attitude to support each other, whoever gets the opportunity.

"They are so focused on doing the right thing by the Crusaders, and it's a special environment to be involved in.

"We're still a work in progress and are conscious of that. There's so much more in the group; we take small steps together, building confidence and harmony.

"Every time I'm able to get a coach's cap on and get out amongst the group, it is a pleasure. The men I'm working with are world-class humans, and there are world-class players among them. All you're ever after as a coach is for the boys to express themselves and feel they're getting something out of the game and loving their time in the jersey.

Crusaders captain David Havili

"You have got to come up here with a mindset to be physical, and if you don't get that right the Blues can get a roll on. History shows these are physical battles and we wanted to go at them. Our forward pack did well at stealing a few balls at the lineout, and they gave us a lot of quick ball off our line as well.

"There's a lot of rugby knowledge in the backline. You've got James O'Connor, who's been to multiple World Cups and played around the world. Then you put him with Will Jordan, and you've got guys like Sevu Reece with finishing power, and you want to give the ball to them.

"James Marshall's done a great job with our attack, and as the game progresses and referees try to speed up the game, we've seen a lot more attacking play.

"We went through a bit of hardship last year and it's a credit to the coaches what they've done over the pre-season. We set the foundations through pre-season and you've seen the results of that."

Blues coach Vern Cotter

"It's disappointing. It's another game at home that we haven't put in the performance we need to get the win.

"A game gets constructed. It gets built, and we're not able to build it through set piece and simple things like catching high balls. We seemed lethargic around our reactions. We score early and probably too easily, but there are no excuses.

"We've got to be much better than that, and we're going to have to go back and have a reset. Our week off comes at a good time, and we can regenerate mentally and physically and have a good look at how we can build games in a better way.

"Looking at long-term thinking, it's good for some of these young guys to get game time. But we missed experience today.

"If I'm being objective about it, we're hating losing at home and losing by that amount of points. But we'll use it as a vehicle to become better.

"We're going from a team that was hard to beat, to making games difficult for ourselves, and that may be just through handling errors."