The Batemans Bay Boars are ruing 'one that got away' after blowing a 21-point half-time lead in a heartbreaking three-point loss to the Taralga Tigers.
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The Boars led by 21-0 early, and took a 40-19 lead into the half-time sheds before Taralga put on 26 unanswered points in the second half for a 45-40 victory.
Boars coach Matt Ryan said the loss was "disappointing", but had to be taken in context.
"We only had two blokes on the bench, and of the 10 forwards we had available four of them were new and one bloke had never played a game of rugby before," he said.
"When you talk about getting pressure around the ruck or fixing up the defence, it's hard to call on blokes who either aren't match fit or still don't fully understand the game to be able to problem solve in the moment.
"In perspective what we achieved in the first half was brilliant, but it's an 80-minute game and we lost the opportunity to get a good win."
Ryan said he would focus on both the positives and the negatives of the game ahead of the club's big Indigenous Round clash with Bungendore.
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"Our set piece set a good platform early on and we scored some great trys," he said.
"We looked threatening in the first half and were really fulfilling our attacking potential, but our defence was an issue the whole game.
"Once Taralga got some possession in the second half, they controlled the game well and we weren't able to plug up the holes or even the contest at the breakdown.
"The first half showed how good we can be if we set the right platform, and how threatening our backs can be, but there are still areas where we need to get better if we want to compete.
"The big thing for us has been consistency. Taralga and teams like that are cutting and pasting their team list every week, but we're chopping and changing every week.
"We had 18 players unavailable on the weekend, and we're still hoping for the day where we have the majority of our players available for a few weeks in a row."
The Boars next game against Bungendore will kick off at 2.30pm on Saturday, May 28, at Hanging Rock Oval. A Welcome to Country ceremony will be held at 12pm, followed by a Golden Oldies game and a jersey presentation.