Neemia Tialata is calling for referees to take a firmer stance in policing the offside line following the Hurricanes' frustrating 28-12 defeat to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last weekend.
The Cheetahs tactic of not contesting the ball at tackles made behind their defensive line caught the Hurricanes on the hop at Vodacom Park as the South Africans stayed flat on defence, effectively nullifying the Hurricanes' ability to attack through the backline.
After the match coach Colin Cooper and captain Andrew Hore questioned whether those players were still onside regardless of whether a ruck was formed and now heading into the match against the Stormers in Cape Town, Tialata has called for more stringent refereeing from the officials.
"There were a lot of tough calls, especially at lineout time when we hadn't got the ball to the halfback yet and the whole back line was up in our face," said the big prop.
"The referees and sideline officials need to referee that a bit better."
Assistant coach Jono Phillips conceded it was a strategy that most other teams would probably attempt to employ and that the Hurricanes would need to adapt better to the referee's rulings than they did with Bryce Lawrence last weekend.
"But the reality is, it's only when you line break that the ruck isn't formed and the offside line isn't there. The assistant referees and referees will look really closely at that and as long as there is consistency we'll be happy."
Sunday morning's disappointing defeat ended the Hurricanes' unbeaten start to the season and Phillips said there had been plenty of tough talking in the days since.
"There's been some very honest talking from us coaches and very direct messages on the way forward that have been agreed by our [team] leaders."
"The team was very disappointed with the way it played and we know we can do a lot better than that."
"In the first 20 minutes we gave away possession on 12 occasions through losses at lineout, handling mistakes and three penalties. We just couldn't get into the game and started forcing things."
The arrival of All Blacks Tamati Ellison and Conrad Smith in Cape Town will provide a much-needed boost for the Hurricanes who had Alipati Leiua making his Super 14 debut and Andre Taylor making his first Super 14 start in Bloemfontein.
"[Ellison and Smith] are an important part of the team and with those two out and Hosea Gear out that was 150 caps worth of experience at this level," said Phillips.
"The boys that came in did well and will learn a lot from that game, especially playing at altitude and just how much harder it is."
"But it's a must-win game for us and Tamati and Conrad should both be ready to go this weekend so will be right in contention to play."