"We allowed the opposition to have 64 per cent of the ball in our half which tested our defensive systems and, to be fair, we defended pretty well," Philpott said last night.
A little bit of frustration?
Yes.
A sense of mea culpa?
Most definitely.
"The players knew they weren't looking after the ball as well as they should have."
Believe it or not that admission of a lack of ownership only made it easier for Philpott to put his message across succinctly without having to look anyone in the eye for accountability in the 40 minutes that had elapsed but hadn't really cost the Magpies more points.
It's not that the players needed any more endorsement because the deathly silence that had taken hold of the McLean Park faithful would have been quite deafening.
No doubt, the fans had left the turnstiles relieved, if not totally satisfied, having cleared their lungs in the second spell, in the knowledge the Magpies hadn't forgotten how to eke out a victory under duress.
The team had responded favourably to the coaching stable to quell the Maroon tide with a try each to TJ Vaega, Tiaan Falcon and Marino Mikaele Tu'u for the 24-16 statement of intent this season.
The prudent also would have factored in the A&E Department-like foyer moments that saw winger Mason Emerson and loosies Tony Lamborn and Gareth Evans hobble off the park in quick succession.
"In Tony and Gareth's case you've got two of your three loose forwards suddenly gone so you have changes to the strength of your lineouts.
"Because we generally have only one loose forward on the bench we ended up playing a lock at loose forward so you've got to adapt to that and that can take a little bit of time."
How those injuries will impact on the game plan before the Magpies run out against the Bay of Plenty Steamers in the 5.45pm kick-off in round two at the Rotorua International Stadium tomorrow remains to be seen as Philpott and his stable nut out the variables.
It isn't lost on Philpott that his men showed some ticker when forward Geoff Cridge was banished to the naughty boy's chair in the 58th minute for 10 minutes.
"During that time we actually played some better rugby and even scored a try."
It pleased Philpott immensely to tell his men on Monday that they didn't just live in hope when down to 14 men but showed mettle during a time of adversity which bodes well for the season.
"In some ways it's a little like life, isn't it? In times when things don't go your way you can run and hide or you can say 'Let's make this into an opportunity', so I thought we did that."
In the Battle of the Bays tomorrow, the hosts hold a 26-22 win record with one drawn affair.
In their last face-off, the Steamers pipped the Magpies 26-24 in Napier on October 15 last year.
The Magpies' last chest-thumping moment against BOP came in the 33-26 result on October 17, 2015, in Napier during the cup semifinal.
For the record, the Magpies have never played them at the new Rotorua International Stadium venue in a cup match before.
