Captain Craig Newby will wake up this morning and again wonder how the Highlanders failed to win their first game of the season last night.
Newby's men held overwhelming advantages in territory and possession but failed to execute opportunities and were let down by poor kicking.
The captain, back in the line-up after six weeks on the sideline with a foot injury, lasted 63min before watching the tense final minutes.
‘‘I don't know how we lost. We just didn't score when we could have scored, and there were a couple of times we didn't go wide when we should have,'' Newby said.
‘‘Little things just let us down, and that's disappointing. I guess one good thing is we held the Hurricanes to only one try and I'm not sure when a team last managed to do that.''
Newby conceded the Highlanders' goal-kicking was poor, and believed in retrospect they should have attempted two of the four penalty attempts they turned down in the final 12min.
But he has no doubts the Highlanders have proven in the opening rounds, in which they have had four close losses, they can be competitive.
‘‘We were the better team tonight. I really believe that. Maybe this time next year we'll win three out of these four, if we can keep the same squad. We're growing but we just haven't been able to get over the line.''
Highlanders coach Glenn Moore did not believe the decisions to go for touch rather than goal in the latter stages of the game reflected a lack of faith in the team's kickers.
‘‘No, not necessarily. We knew three points wasn't going to be enough. We came here to win, we were winning good line-out ball and we wanted to attack them,'' Moore said.
Pressed on the goal-kicking troubles, he conceded he was concerned.
But Moore knows he has built a team of fighters who will eventually taste success after a month of heartbreak.
‘‘We've simply got to win some of these games. We made all the play tonight and we were good enough to win.
‘‘A little bit of skill execution just let us down, and there was a little bit of panic at critical times. We didn't need to kick ball away at the end of the game.
‘‘But I can't question the desire, the commitment and the effort the guys are showing.''
