Justin Marshall: Coaches deserve applause for successful change of tactics

To me the Highlanders out-thought the Stormers on Saturday night. At halftime Tony Brown said they didn't want to get into a set-piece match. Photo / NZME.

We are always very quick to criticise coaches when teams are inept or failing to get results so I would take this opportunity to give credit to the coaches at the Highlanders and Hurricanes.

To me the Highlanders out-thought the Stormers on Saturday night. At halftime Tony Brown said they didn't want to get into a set-piece match. They had worked out the Stormers were good at lineout drive and at scrum time, so the Highlanders wanted a quick game, to remain unpredictable. They didn't want an arm wrestle.

Their game plan was well thought out and executed. I just wonder whether this is the turning of the corner for the Highlanders.

Even in the games they won they were relying on individuals and special moments for their victories. But now they know their strength of their team, the way to truly put the opposition under pressure and credit must go to Brown, Jamie Joseph, Jon Preston and Scott McLeod.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, have had a complete reshuffle in their coaching line-up, with Chris Boyd and John Plumtree coming on board.

They haven't tweaked a lot on attack, because the Hurricanes have always had the ability to score tries. Their problem traditionally was that they've always had the ability to let in a lot more than they scored. Their defence has now become a weapon. On Friday night against the Rebels they probably didn't have the possession they would have liked, but their defence wasn't really stressed.

You've got to admire the fact that they have now got some fortitude.

At the other end of the spectrum there are the Blues. I still, after six defeats, sympathise with John Kirwan because the Blues have the ability to hold on to the ball and I thought they had better direction with Dan Bowden controlling the play. However, JK doesn't coach players to make stupid decisions such as making unnecessary passes when in contact, leading to mistakes. I couldn't believe how many times they tried do that against the Waratahs in Sydney. They'd win a turnover - a big attacking platform these days - and then lose possession through a dumb decision.

That poor player discipline was extremely costly for the Blues because their momentum was quickly shut down when they needed to take the contact and reset.

JK has every right to feel frustrated. I'm not saying that I don't think there are some issues in the Blues camp and that it's nothing to do with JK.

But I do want to stress to all those who are out there slagging him off and pointing the finger saying it's his coaching that's making them lose.

Step back and have a look at the weekend's game again and see if the players are part of the problem with poor decision making and fundamental errors.