'Be f****** better': Tony Brown vents frustrations after Highlanders loss
Highlanders head coach Tony Brown has vented his frustrations after his side fell short in a disappointing defeat to the Waratahs in Dunedin on Sunday.
Brown cut an annoyed, dejected and even angry figure in the coaches box at Forsyth Barr Stadium as the Waratahs scored a 32-20 victory to notch their first win in New Zealand since 2015, and their first in Dunedin in 14 years.
The result means the Highlanders now must beat the Rebels in Melbourne in the final round of the regular season this weekend to clinch a Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final berth.
Failure to do that in front of their home crowd against the New South Welshmen in such disappointing fashion proved to be a sticking point for Brown, who painted a clear picture of how he felt after the match.
“I think we definitely didn’t quite get the preparation right," Brown told Sky Sport of where the Highlanders went wrong in a game where they conceded a red card at the expense of Sam Gilbert, gave away 19 turnovers and missed 30 tackles.
"Individually, guys weren’t quite on the job, and when you’re turning over the ball in contact, it’s purely down to your desire and your preparation around the physical parts of the game.
"We’re not a good enough team to go into a game against the Waratahs, who are a good team, half-cocked.
“I thought we had a reasonable start to the game. Our first try was one of the better ones for the year.
"Our collisions were really good, and we were getting turnovers from Jimmy Lentjes and Billy Harmon, but then we just went into this footy where we were giving away soft penalties, piggybacking them into our half, and then it fell apart from there.
"Our discipline wasn’t good, our ball retention was poor, and we got beaten by a better team, but, in a way, I just think we beat ourselves tonight.”
Asked how the Highlanders go about amending those shortcomings against the Rebels in what is effectively a must-win match to keep their season alive, Brown didn't mince his words in his response.
“It’s just pure individual preparation," the former All Blacks first-five told Sky Sport.
"Being prepared to sacrifice a few things around your personal life, or whatever it may be, and really committing to the team, committing to the cause, and just trying to be f****** better than you were last week.
"I think maybe a couple of guys in our set-up got a bit ahead of themselves and they need to probably look at themselves and look at the footage from the game and be honest.”
Brown echoed those sentiments in his post-match press conference, where he revealed that Mitch Hunt was far from certain to start in the absence of Gilbert, whose season may be over as a result of his red card.
Gilbert - who shone in his shock appearance at first-five during his side's record-breaking win over the Force a week earlier - was sent off for a reckless clean out of Waratahs star Michael Hooper, resulting in the Wallabies captain being dumped on his head.
That didn't help the Highlanders' cause after they were already impacted heavily by an outbreak of the flu, leading to widespread changes to their match day squad at short notice.
Brown is hopeful those who missed the Waratahs match will be available to face the Rebels, but it's probable that Gilbert won't be among those players as he is expected to be banned for the remainder of the Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
That would leave the Highlanders short-changed on first-five options at the business end of the season as Hunt continues to struggle with concussion symptoms after colliding heads with Force midfielder Richard Kahui.
As such, it appears likely that veteran playmaker Marty Banks, who replaced Gilbert after his 20-minute red card had lifted, will compete with utility back Vilimoni Koroi for the No 10 jersey against the Rebels.
Brown has indicated that he views Koroi, normally a wing or fullback, as a long-term first-five, but the All Blacks Sevens star has hardly been sighted this season, making just one bench appearance against the Blues in March.
Banks, meanwhile, has struggled to make in imprint on proceedings upon returning for a third stint at the Highlanders this year, meaning Brown will be forced to get the best out of his players if they are to make the playoffs.
It's a challenge that the outgoing Highlanders boss, who will leave the franchise at the end of the season to focus on his role as Japan assistant coach on a full-time basis, is acutely aware of.
However, he remains confident in achieving the success expected of him and his team as the race for eighth place reaches its crescendo at AAMI Park this Sunday.
“We’ve definitely got to win," Brown said of the Rebels clash in his post-match press conference.
"Destiny’s in our hands. We need a performance. It's just frustrating for us as a team to go backwards so far after we’ve been building quite nicely.
"We’ve still got an opportunity to make the eight. It’s still in our hands, we’ve just got to be better right across the park.”
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No just because the personal is much better than last year. I've shown no antagonism of Crusader players, you must be confusing me with someone else.
I have critized Razor for picking players he knows occasionally?
I said I'm not surprised because of his style, he's more a grinder player like Cane, not going to show up on peoples radar until you see how bad the other choices are. This year players like Clarke have been on fire and just show a bit more.
Are you one of those posters continually taking it easy on Razor because he doesn't have his Crusaders stars available? Do you think the rugby world is going to up to him suddenly once Mo'unga returns? lol
Go to commentsJohn you have been beating this drum for a couple of years, if you get proven right get back to us.
The last recent and decent Aussie coach was Ewen McKenzie, he was undermined and forced out by a couple of slimy Aussie players who were given a free pass when they should have been disciplined.
So our history since McQueen is very checkered and it seems to make little difference whether we have an Aussie coach or a Kiwi coach. The players have been entitled for a long time and we had to hit bottom to get them back into reality and to stop thinking it is all about them.
Cheika was an OK coach but his 'go our and destroy the opposition' tactic worked for a while and then didn't.
Please give me a list of great Aussie coaches that I have missed.
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