Conceding 50 points at home is never a good sign in Super Rugby Pacific, and it’s starting to concern Highlanders head coach Jamie Joseph, who had a simple but telling outlook on where they currently sit.
The Highlanders have now lost two straight outings in Super Rugby Pacific after a promising start to the campaign, this time going down to the high-flying Hurricanes in Dunedin.
A Cameron Roigard double during the first half helped the away side pull away from the Dunedin-based franchise, where Joseph’s side struggled at lineout time once again.
Highlanders hooker Jack Taylor has starred for Joseph’s side around the paddock during this year’s competition, but the lineout as a whole has been below par, especially in the past couple of rounds against the Force, Crusaders, and Hurricanes.
Against the Hurricanes, the men from the deep south had their lineout functioning at 71% from their 17 attempts, compared to the away side’s 82% from eleven lineouts.
Joseph’s team are yet to have the bye in the 2o26 Super Rugby Pacific competition, and are coming up to play their seventh straight game in the competition, against Moana Pasifika in Auckland this weekend.
The Highlanders head coach, who spoke to media in Dunedin post-match on Friday night, believed his team just aren’t accurate enough at the moment.
“Look, we started well, we then made a lot of mistakes, which led to points and then we were chasing the game,” Joseph said.
“Which we shouldn’t have been so stressed about, we just had to get back into the game, giving penalties away, and it just sort of unfolded that way.
“So, yeah, that’s the most disappointing thing, because the Highlanders are a good rugby team. We do need to understand that you’ve got to be accurate at times as well.
“So that’s probably the biggest disappointment for us.”
Joseph said that it’s not about the effort and intent of his players, more so the inaccuracy of their performance.
“Well, there’s two things, again, like, if you’re making unforced errors, it’s hard, and giving penalties away and then coming on trying to make an impact and getting carded.
“It’s not around purpose, intent, it’s just about being more accurate as a rugby team, individuals, we’ve got to take some responsibility around that, and therefore we’re playing against pretty good side, so they punished us.”