Rugby: Season review - What the New Zealand also-rans did right and wrong

Alby Mathewson. Photo / Getty Images

BLUES

Overview:
2010 was a considerable improvement on 2009 in terms of results and performances but still the Blues didn't fulfil their potential. Inconsistency was their undoing. They won in weeks two and three and that was their only streak.

Momentum is everything in Super rugby and questions have to be asked about the mental application and preparation of individuals when excellent performances are never backed up the next week. A team that played the Bulls off the park with a mix of brutality and brilliant attacking flair should not have been beaten by the Cheetahs.

The loss in Bloemfontein will be the one that coach Pat Lam will keep coming back to in the coming months. It was a tired, sloppy performance against an ordinary side. He'll also be pained by the three points that were dropped in Sydney when the game was all but won until Taniela Moa threw an intercept pass on the Waratahs tryline and gave it away.

Those six dropped points killed the playoff dream but the Blues need to go easy on feeling hard done by. They had to view their accuracy and aggression against the Bulls as the benchmark not a one-off, go-for-broke effort.

What They Got Right:

* Settled early on a game plan that suited the natural inclination of the players to counter-attack and play spontaneous, running football.

* Mostly Lam proved an astute selector. He kept the spine of his team intact and was right to bench Rene Ranger against the Force and Sharks, as his error count had been too high in previous weeks.

* Were one of the few teams who obviously analysed the best way to defend the rolling maul.

* Their counter-attacking from deep kicks was outstanding and the back three were - regardless of combination - among the most cohesive and incisive.

What They Got Wrong:

* They didn't develop an alternative way to play. When the Chiefs made the final last year, they did so through a mix of tempo rugby and hard grind. The Blues, when their execution was on the money, looked potential title winners. But their game plan was entirely reliant on their basics being sharp and too often they were guilty of being loose. They had nothing to fall back on.

* Their set piece, while mostly reliable, wobbled when put under pressure.

* They were guilty of conceding too many avoidable penalties at the tackled ball over the course of the season. Seemed slow to adapt to how the game was being refereed.

* Lacked length and direction in their kicking game.

* Were guilty of committing too many high-impact individual errors - Stephen Brett's intercept pass against the Hurricanes, Rudi Wulf's intercept pass against the Crusaders, Moa's horror pass against the Waratahs.

Best Performance:
The win against the Bulls - cohesive, relentless, aggressive play from the forwards; silky stuff from the backs.

Worst Performance:
The loss to the Cheetahs - disjointed, tired and vague.

Individual Stars:
Viliami Ma'afu was a Trojan whose stats didn't drop all season; Jerome Kaino gave the consistency everyone wanted to see; Alby Mathewson was better than anyone imagined with regular game time; Rene Ranger was exciting and Isaia Toeava was a class act at fullback.

CHIEFS

2010 Overview:
It was a wistful Ian Foster who recalled after his side were hammered by the Waratahs that, only 12 months earlier, the Chiefs had been the masters of tempo rugby.

Injury did much to derail the Chiefs and rob them of the chance to build on what they achieved in 2009. They spent most of the season without their preferred back three of Lelia Masaga, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Mils Muliaina which explains why they were no longer adept at running from deep and using the space. They also missed the leadership of Muliaina and the reliability of Kevin O'Neill in the boilerhouse.

Stephen Donald and Brendon Leonard never quite fired and the loose trio, strangely given that both Liam Messam and Tanerau Latimer are natural, aerobic, ball players, struggled to impose themselves. The failure to win a single game in Hamilton was unacceptable and destroyed their campaign. An alarming body count cannot be dismissed but questions have to be asked about the vision and enterprise of the Chiefs.

How were they trying to play? For 40 minutes against the Hurricanes, they were wide and fast and superb. For 80 minutes against the Waratahs they were chasing shadows and then kicked the ball away whenever they had it.

What They Got Right:

* The start of their campaign was - for once - exactly what they were after. Three wins from three games on the road. Unheard of.

What They Got Wrong:

* Making Sione Lauaki interim captain.

* Continuing to select Lauaki after his suspension and subsequent court charge.

* Failure to settle on the right 9-10-12-13 combination. To be fair, the lack of form from both Leonard and Richard Kahui didn't help. But maybe if the decision had been made in February to start with Leonard-Mike Delany-Stephen Donald-Kahui, everything would have eventually clicked into place.

* Goal kicking.

Best Performance:
Bizarrely, they produced their best work in defeat - when they lost to the Hurricanes.

Worst Performance:
Arguably against the Reds but probably against the Waratahs. Sure, the visitors played well but they were allowed to.

Individual Stars:
Culum Retallick carried a big workload and carried it well, Jackson Willison came on strongly and Tim Nanai-Williams showed he can run.


HIGHLANDERS

Overview: This was supposed to be the season the Highlanders began the ascent. They have been in free fall since 2003, yet when their squad for 2010 was properly analysed, there was reason to be confident they could finish in the top half of the table. Instead, they have fallen further. Overnight results could change this - but they are staring at 13th place.

From what or from whom they can find solace is not apparent. Few came to watch them. They continued to lack belief they could beat the better teams and there were too many games this year where they gave the impression they were not really carrying much pride.

Maybe that was the case. Rumblings about dissatisfaction were constant. Several key players want to leave and it would be a surprise to see the same coaching team kept in place next season. One stirring effort against the Waratahs aside, the Highlanders have little to take with them for next season.

What They Got Right:

* The game in Invercargill - a good win, a decent crowd and a sense of just what the Highlanders once were and could be again.

What They Got Wrong:

* Didn't kick on from last year in terms of instilling belief within the side.

* Picked the wrong person as captain - Jimmy Cowan is a soldier; a very good one. Captaincy is not his bag and the frustration showed.

* Didn't settle on a first five.

* Didn't make enough use of the ball carriers within their pack and play with enough brutality and aggression up front.

Best Performance:
Defeating the Waratahs. The rain fell, the wind blew and the forwards took it up the guts, old school.

Worst Performance:
They didn't fire a shot against the Stormers but conceding almost 50 points to the Force is really not good.

Individual Stars:
Israel Dagg came of age, Adam Thomson and Alando Soakai never stopped working and Michael Hobbs had his moments.