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Two Wallabies set to return for Waratahs against Highlanders

Michael Hooper.(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Test stars Michael Hooper and Ned Hanigan are set to line up against the Highlanders on Sunday as the Waratahs look to balance player fatigue with winning momentum ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific finals.

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With two rounds before the playoffs, the Waratahs face the long trek to Dunedin to take on the resurgent Highlanders, with stopovers in Christchurch and Auckland part of the gruelling trip.

Assistant coach Chris Whitaker said they would look to rest some of their forwards, who have had a big workload.

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The key to stopping the Blues.

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    The key to stopping the Blues.

    He said having two veteran forwards available, with Wallabies skipper Hooper returning from a head knock and Hanigan from a season in Japan, had eased their selection dilemma.

    “We still want to go into the quarter-finals with momentum,” Whitaker said on Tuesday.

    “The beauty about the team this year is that we’ve got legitimate guys who are competing for spots. For example this week, you leave out Jed Holloway, you bring in Ned Hanigan, and you leave out Charlie Gamble and you bring in Michael Hooper.

    “You’re not actually altering the team that much; we’re still going over with the mentality of winning this match but we’re also trying to freshen up after what has been a long year for us. We’re trying to fight two battles on one front.”

    A certain change for the Waratahs is at outside centre, with in-form Izaia Perese suffering a knee injury in last round’s four-point loss to the Hurricanes.

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    Whitaker said they were hopeful the Wallabies back could return for their quarter-final in two weeks’ time.

    Fullback Alex Newsome is one possibility to shift to 13 but Triston Reilly or Welsh veteran Jamie Roberts are more likely given how well Newsome is playing at the back.

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    Whitaker said there was a lot to like about their performance against the Hurricanes, where they dominated early but were over-run.

    He said the Highlanders, who had climbed into eighth spot on the back of a 61-10 thrashing of Western Force, were a danger team.

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    “They played good footy at the start of the year but lost a couple of games on the bell,” said the former NSW halfback.

    “They’re definitely dangerous and obviously with (halfback) Aaron Smith steering them around the park.

    “An Australian team hasn’t won at Forsyth Barr Stadium since 2014 so we know it’s going to be a big battle, that’s for sure.”

    Meanwhile, veteran prop Paddy Ryan is cleared for selection after he received a warning from the Sanzaar judiciary following his red card for a dangerous tackle.

    – Melissa Woods

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    JW 1 hour ago
    Reds vs Blues: Ex-All Black missed the mark, Lynagh’s Wallabies statement

    Agree re Lynagh.


    Disagree Beaver got it wrong. Blues made that look easy. It might be a brawn over brains picture though? More in the last point, but, and this may have changed by player selection, the Reds were very lucky this game. Tele’a should not have been red carded as Ryan landed on his shoulder, and both Tate and Jock (was it) should have been yellowed carded for their offenses in stopping tries. We also had a try dissallowed by going back 10 phases in play. We all should have learned after the RWC that that is against the rules. So straight away on this simple decisions alone the result changes to go in the Blues favour, away from home and playing fairly poorly. The sleeping giant if you will. I didn’t agree with the Blues take either tbh, but to flip it around and say it’s the Reds instead is completely inaccurate (though a good side no doubt you have to give them a chance).


    And you’re also riding the wave of defense wins matches a bit much. Aside from Dre’s tackling on Rieko I didn’t see anything in that match other than a bit of tiny goal line defending. I think if you role on the tap for another second you see the ball put placed for the try (not that I jump to agree with Eklund purely because he was adamant), and in general those just get scored more often than not. They are doing something good though stopping line breaks even if it is the Blues (and who also got over the line half a dozen times), I did not expect to be greeted with that stat looking at the game.

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    Ashley Carson 1 hour ago
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