HIGHLANDERS coach Aaron Mauger gave his side a pass mark after they beat the Waratahs, captained by Berry’s Will Miller, 59-38 at a warm and windy Molyneux Park in Alexandra on Friday.
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The game was split into three 30-minute periods, making continuity tricky, but Mauger was pleased his side managed to adapt on the run and emerged without any injury worries.
"I'm reasonably happy," Mauger said.
"I thought we were a bit slow in that first 30 but once we got our speed and momentum in that second 30 we took control and managed to get through most of what we wanted to get through in terms of our structures.
"We could have been a bit tidier but it's not a bad place to be after our first preseason game."
The one area which the Highlanders will look at is their kicking game.
No 10 Josh Ioane tried a number of grubber kicks in behind the Waratahs that turned over possession and Mauger said the side needed to make better choices on attack.
"We could have been a little bit better with our kick selection at times," he said. "Some of those kicks there were run pictures as well, so for our guys it's just understanding how to control the game, with ball in hand or territory.
"We made it easy for the Waratahs at times by giving the ball back to them."
The Highlanders used three different starting XV combinations and only hit the accelerator in the second period when their back line started to find space on the outside.
Bryn Gatland made one tidy break and distributed sharply when he came into the five eighth position for Ioane, while the back three of Matt Faddes, Tevita Nabura and Josh McKay gew in influence.
"We moved the ball well, I was really impressed with the boys on the edge, they did a good job," Mauger said.
"Sio Tomkinson, Rob Thompson, Tevita Nabura - those boys getting their hands on the ball is what we're trying to achieve."
After Liam Coltman and Dillon Hunt had barged over from close range to cancel out some early Waratahs' scores, the visitors kicked away in the 20-30 minute period.
Waratahs No 10 Mack Mason was sharp and organised, while Karmichael Hunt made a solid debut after a year out of top-level footy, charging the ball up hard in midfield.
Waratahs No 13 Lalakai Foketi also grabbed two tries as the visitors enjoyed playing with a strong wind behind their backs.
However, the Highlanders regrouped and made some tactical adjustments that paid dividends.
"We wanted to change the point of contact," Mauger said. "We thought the Waratahs were defending pretty well in tight so we moved the ball out ito the middle of the field and then tried to get them on the edges."
After that switch the points started to flow, with Nabura grabbing three tries, while Luke Whitelock, McKay, Tomkinson and Faddes also grabbed five-pointers.
The goalkickers landed six conversions from nine attempts to blow out the score to 59 points and give the Highlanders something to build on.
"It's a good base for us," Mauger said. "There are a couple of things we want to be better with.
"We gave up a couple of soft tries, the intercepts and charge down so that's 21 points
"We've got to tighten up a bit of detail there."
