Jamie Joseph feels the Highlanders should be "really brassed off" about their loss to the Reds at home on Saturday.
At the same time, the Highlanders coach feels his team are progressing nicely enough and can take plenty of confidence into a looming two-week sojourn to Australia.
They were excellent for a big part of the first half against the Reds but things went haywire in the second half as the home side had serious issues with the scrum and discipline.
"A bit of a mixed bag — but we lost, and we’re disappointed around the outcome," Joseph said.
"We started off well.
"Nearly had a dream start ... and next thing you know we’re two tries down.
"To fight back into the match in the first half and go into halftime with a lead was really good work.
"We were patient, and scored tries when we needed to.
"But we gave up a couple of soft ones after halftime.
"Some poor penalties. Our scrum came under pressure, and the game changed. That’s disappointing.
"That was a game we should be really brassed off about."
The talking point after the game was the Reds getting on top of the scrum battle in the second half.
There was a head knock to replacement Highlanders prop Sefo Kautai, a yellow card to Ethan de Groot, and victory to wily Reds prop Alex Hodgman, who convinced referee Damon Murphy that Saula Ma’u and the home scrum were infringing under pressure.
"You feel for the players because there’s a lot going on, you know," Joseph said.
"Just the way the referee saw it ... that’s fair enough.
"We’ve got to adapt. But it also takes confidence out of the pack as well, you know.
"It was obviously disappointing. But it’s all part of the game."
The Highlanders fall back into the pack with a second straight loss.
It could be a tricky couple of weeks, too, with the short turnaround to play the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday night before having to head to Perth to meet the Force.
Joseph feels the Highlanders have a good mindset and are tracking well, but have been hurt by accuracy levels in the past two weeks.
"For me, our game is fine.
"While our scrum came under pressure tonight, we’re winning enough quality ball to get momentum and put teams under pressure.
"Our kicking game today was fine.
"We created a lot of 50-50s in the air, so that creates a lot of unstructured opportunities.
"Discipline ... two penalties in the first half, nine in the second. Too many errors and penalties in the second half.
"We just have to be honest with each other and get on with the next game."
That comes against a Brumbies side stinging from a 28-23 loss to a vastly improved Waratahs team on Saturday night.
While the Waratahs have transformed from wooden spooners to title contenders, the opposite is true for the stumbling Blues.
The defending champions were humbled 42-19 by the resurgent Crusaders at Eden Park, and full crisis mode has been enabled.
Last night, the Force beat the Fijian Drua 52-15, moving them up to sixth in the standings.
