Richard Loe: Hate to say it but some Chiefs may be out of their depth

After the first round of the Super 12, you'd have to feel a bit worried for the Highlanders and the Chiefs. The Highlanders are still confronting the same old problems and some of the Chiefs players, I'm sorry to say, looked out of their depth.

The Highlanders showed that lineouts, kick-offs and various other basics are essential when it comes to winning. If you don't win the kick-off you are under immediate pressure - this is particularly true if your team has been scored against. It is vital to perform well at kick-offs.

Until the Highlanders get these and other basics right, they are going to struggle. You could see it in Anton Oliver's face afterwards. They simply don't have the personnel at the moment who are capable of doing the business in these areas.

As for the Blues, I thought two All Blacks - Joe Rokocoko and Keven Mealamu - did well. The Blues did the basics and performed as a unit. The Highlanders didn't.

I must say that Blues lock Greg Rawlinson, a man I previously thought to be no more than an average NPC player, played well and got through a lot of hard work.

Talking about locks, Ali Williams went well enough for the first hour or so but then he started fringing again when he got tired and the game was safe.

He performed in the lineouts and it was a promising start - and I'm sure the All Black selectors will be willing him to build on this and get off the steep hill that his career has been going down since his first year in international rugby.

In the backs, I thought Jimmy Cowan was very disappointing for the Highlanders and David Gibson from the Blues (speaking as an old front rower who likes it when halfbacks give you the go-forward) had the better game by far.

Of the two Canterbury imports, well, Ben Blair is a very nice guy and Cameron McIntyre made some good breaks but showed his inexperience in other areas - you would have to say the Crusaders may have made the right decision to let them go.

As for the Chiefs, I thought some of them looked out of their depth and didn't step up to the next level. After the first 10 minutes, I thought: "Hello, we've got something going on here," but it never eventuated and the Waratahs ran away with the game.

Wayne Ormond was probably most culpable - although I struggled to see Marty Holah in the first half as well.

Ormond failed to make it into the All Blacks last year even though a lot of people were calling for him to be included. But on the evidence of this game, I would have to say that he may primarily be a good NPC leader.

The forwards were sluggish and so were the wingers - for all their speed. The backs didn't really get the platform and I can understand how people are saying that the Chiefs struggled to find any positives in this performance.

The Waratahs looked good but I wouldn't get too excited about them yet. They often start well and play poorly later in the season.

You might have seen Mat Rogers all over that game but he'd kicked just one out of seven when they took him off.

A decent opponent would hurt them up front and punish them for missed kicks.

But they competed as a unit and took their chances - and you couldn't say that about the Chiefs.


- HERALD ON SUNDAY