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Written by Jamie Troughton
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Monday, 04 October 2004 |
IT shapes as the most important six days in the fast-ascending coaching career of Vern Cotter.
His Bay of Plenty rugby team stand on the brink of their greatest-ever season, one vital NPC win away from adding a division one playoff berth to their historic breaking of the Ranfurly Shield hoodoo.
But after the team stumbled through a 38-20 win over Southland on Saturday in Rotorua, Cotter's biggest challenge won't be to get his side up for their crucial match with North Harbour on Sunday - it will be about keeping them down.
``At this stage of the season there's a lot of enthusiasm in the team, a lot of great intentions, but the players are getting so excited they're making the wrong decisions,'' Cotter said.
``We've got to temper the enthusiasm, look to more accuracy and at the same time keep our flair and initiative which is an important part of our game and just make sure we read things a bit better.''
Bay of Plenty are second equal on the Air New Zealand NPC table, three points behind Wellington and alongside Taranaki on 28 points.
But behind them - thanks to Waikato's last-minute 25-20 win over North Harbour yesterday - is a veritable logjam.
Any one of Canterbury (27), Waikato or North Harbour (both 26) can potentially dislodge Bay of Plenty from their first semifinal appearance in the first division.
It's a very simple equation for Bay of Plenty - beat Harbour, preferably with a bonus point, to secure their spot and potentially a home playoff back in Rotorua.
It will need to be a vastly improved performance from Saturday's effort, however.
Despite scoring within two minutes of kickoff when Charles Baxter continued his love affair with the International Stadium ground, the home side bumbled and botched 10 further chances within sight of Southland's line to only lead 7-3 at the break.
There were knock-ons and forward passes, turnovers and penalties. Added to another season-threatening injury - to prop Taufa'ao Filise's knee - and Cotter's halftime humour could have peeled paint.
``We wanted to accelerate the game and we had to accelerate our decisions and execution but it didn't mean we play airy-fairy and throw passes when we weren't sure who the receiver was and where he was going to be.
``The intentions were good but in the execution we got mixed up. Our structure disintegrated with it.''
His halftime plea for simplicity and assistant coach Joe Schmidt's simple remedy for the backline malaise paid immediate dividends after they'd run back out.
Schmidt called for a simple cut-back move to start the half - and first-five Glen Jackson drifted wide 15m out, slipped a ball to second-five Grant McQuoid on the change of angle and a gap opened.
Centre Rua Tipoki tore through off McQuoid's handy offload and the confidence was back.
Although Southland snuck in three tries through unusually tardy Steamers defence, further tries to Tipoki, hooker Ngarimu Simpkins and McQuoid, on the stroke of fulltime, inflated the score and ease of win to nearly respectable levels.
There were positives - particularly with the performance of division one rookies, halfback Charles Hubbard and prop James Afoa.
Afoa, signed from Counties-Manukau earlier this year, was in the squad to bolster his experience but when Filise went off after a short but damaging 23 minutes spell, he was suddenly cast into centre stage.
Hubbard had a messy platform to operate from with the forwards, in trying to speed the play up, often leaving him open to sniping. But he distributed well despite that and made several key tackles.
Bay of Plenty's lineout was a mess, however, with Simpkins' lineout throwing patchy and Southland's tall jumpers creating havoc.
They also found a disconcerting number of holes in the backline which until now has been watertight.
Cotter knows there's much work to do against a hurting Harbour side which will be a vastly different opponent from the one Bay of Plenty beat 19-15 in preseason.
``Their forwards have got a lot more confidence,'' Cotter said. ``I thought that could have been a point we could have attacked but they've definitely displayed a lot more strength and resilience up front.
``We'll give it our best shot which is all we can do. It's a great place to be in the season. The excitement is great the players are enjoying it but we've got to understand what our capabilities are and how to use them.''
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