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Injured trio welcomed back into Waratahs side for derby clash with Brumbies

(Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

Waratahs boss Rob Penney has welcomed back three key players to his side ahead of a must-win Australian derby clash against the Brumbies in Canberra on Sunday.

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Captain Rob Simmons headlined the trio of returnees, with the second rower fighting off an ankle issue to lead his side as they search for just their second win of the campaign.

Joining him in returning to the starting lineup are teenage wing Mark Nawaqanitawase and Wallabies prop Tom Robertson, both of whom have overcome back injuries to make the starting XV.

Continue reading below…

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The only other change to the run-on side comes at hooker, with Damian Fitzpatrick dislodging incumbent rake Robbie Abel to the bench.

Penney will be hopeful that these changes will improve a disappointing Waratahs outfit, whose worst performance of the year thus far came when they hosted the Chiefs in Wollongong last week.

A 14-13 half-time lead turned into a 51-14 thrashing at the hands of Warren Gatland’s men, with 38 unanswered points for the visitors consigning the Waratahs to an embarrassing defeat.

“You’ve got two ways of handling it,” Penney said in the wake of his team announcement for this weekend.

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“I guess we’re not in a great situation performance-wise so you can either throw the baby out with the bath water and ignore the good things that aren’t being seen but we know are happening and replace a lot of the boys or you can show faith in the group that you’ve been working with intimately and that’s what we’ve decided to do, so persevere.”

With that in mind, Penney remains wary that results need to start changing sooner rather than later if they want to keep their play-off aspirations alive.

“The boys feel it more than anybody. Us as staff members we get disappointed but the group really cares about their performance and how they’re perceived and the perception isn’t great at the moment.

“We understand why and we’re the only ones that can fix it.

“The players are at the front edge, leading that change.”

Waratahs side to face the Brumbies on Sunday

1. Angus Bell

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2. Damien Fitzpatrick

3. Harry Johnson-Holmes

4. Rob Simmons

5. Tom Staniforth

6. Lachie Swinton

7. Michael Hooper

8. Jack Dempsey

9. Mitch Short

10. Will Harrison

11. Mark Nawaqanitawase

12. Karmichael Hunt

13. Alex Newsome

14. Jack Maddocks

15. Kurtley Beale

Reserves:

16. Robbie Abel

17. Tom Robertson

18. Tetera Faulkner

19. Jed Holloway

20. Pat Tafa

21. Michael McDonald

22. Lalakai Foketi

23. James Ramm

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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