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Turbos coach after consistency

Tuesday 26th August 2008

Head up: Rennie wants his side to be more consistent

Manawatu coach Dave Rennie believes his side need to forget about their failed Ranfurly Shield challenge and focus on gaining some much needed consistency in the Air New Zealand Cup.

The Turbos went down 25-3 to Auckland at the weekend, failing to fire in attack, which was a surprise considering their early season confidence.

An opening day win over the Crusaders was followed up with a high-scoring draw against Waikato, but those results have been dampened by defeats against Southland and Auckland.

Whilst Rennie is happy with the progress his side have shown, he now wants them to become more consistent.

"The boys have come a long way," he told Yahoo!Xtra.

"We haven't bought any players in, it is just trying to bring a lot of kids through. Most of our guys are local boys, born and bred.

"So there is a good feeling within the community. But we need to front each week to really get buy-in from people in Palmie.

"If you look at it so far, we have probably fronted a couple of times and disappointed a couple of times. We have to get the consistency.

"They are a bloody good bunch to work with. They have a great attitude, they work hard and they are a pretty tight unit together.

"We just need to see that more consistently on the field."

Next up for Manawatu are North Harbour, but the Turbos are suffering something of a crisis at fly-half. Aaron Smith broke his leg against Auckland, while Aaron Cruden will also be sidelined for up to three weeks.

"That is three of our first-fives out now, we are a little bit thin in that area," Rennie said.

Despite the loss of Smith and Cruden Rennie is hoping his forwards can continue their impressive work at the breakdown.

"We attacked at the breakdown, we knew that Auckland spread their numbers so we would have opportunities to create turnovers," he said.

"So the boys did a lot of good work in that area. But we didn't use that turnover ball.

"We just didn't front well enough, and it wasn't a great Auckland performance either. So if we had played with the sort of intensity that played against Canterbury and late against Waikato, we could have had a decent shot."