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Waratahs unfazed by two Kiwi team losses after Crusaders scalp

Mark Tele'a of the Blues is tackled during the round four Super Rugby Pacific match between NSW Waratahs and Blues at Allianz Stadium, on March 16, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

The NSW Waratahs are headed to Fiji for business, not pleasure, as they look to get their Super Rugby Pacific campaign back on track after successive two-point home defeats to New Zealand opposition.

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Saturday night’s 12-10 loss to the Blues, following a similarly rueful 23-21 defeat to the Highlanders, has left the Waratahs one from four and already behind the eight-ball.

Taking on the Fijian Drua in Lautoka will be hot and hostile, as the defending champion Crusaders discovered in a round-two upset loss.

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But the Waratahs are excited about the opportunity to revive their finals hopes in a potentially season-defining two-game block away against the Drua and Australia’s benchmark Brumbies in Canberra.

Attack

161
Passes
170
121
Ball Carries
126
279m
Post Contact Metres
220m
3
Line Breaks
6

The Tahs have won all four of their previous encounters with the Drua.

“It’s going to be a hostile crowd. The heat, but both teams are going to feel the heat,” Waratahs captain Jake Gordon said.

“We’ve done a really good job against Fiji every time we played them; nullified their threats.

“We went to set-piece quite a lot. We’ve had some really good results against them.

“The risk over there is when the ball gets a little bit wetter, we don’t get looser with it too.

“We go back to playing an aerial game. Go to set-piece. Trying not to play like the Drua in Fiji is really important for us next week.”

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Ruck Speed

0-3 secs
68%
71%
3-6 secs
17%
15%
6+ secs
7%
3%
92
Rucks Won
97

Having said pre-season he hoped a decision around his future could be determined by round four or five, coach Darren Coleman – off contract at the end of the competition – remains unfazed over the increasing uncertainty.

But he doesn’t want his players continually questioned, saying their focus needs to be solely on winning football games.

“The board have been really supportive and we’ve just got to get on with this season,” Coleman said.

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“I don’t need players to talk about my future, or even be worried about it.

“We’re just so focused on turning those two-point losses into wins. What the decision is (about my future) will be the decision.

“I said it two weeks ago, after we won (against the Crusaders); it’s a point we don’t want to talk about anymore.

“I trust the people making the decisions and I’ve got full faith they’ll do what’s right for the organisation, and what they think is best.”

Gordon is confident this year’s Waratahs are superior to the 2023 version and can take the matter out of the board’s hands.

“We’ve got a group that’s really tight. We fight hard,” he said.

“If we focus on improving each week, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.

“We are such a different team to what we were last year. We were getting pumped at points, not even in games.

“We’re a different team at the moment. We just need to be a little bit sharper, especially against a good team.”

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R
RedWarriors 58 minutes ago
How Dupont-less France tossed a grenade into Ireland's Grand Slam celebrations

In both instances, Ireland can cross halfway in comfort and there are 20 or 30 metres of space in which to work, but a clear sense of purpose is conspicuously absent. Whether it stumbled into a handling error or a breakdown pilfer or delivered a negative kick back to their opponents, Ireland’s transition attack was toothless.”


I disagree with this in the first instance there is a three on one if Osborne receives the pass. He will get past Moefana with only Ramos appearing to confront Osborne, Aki and Sheehan with no-one behind. Probable try, not toothless. As Osborne is on the opposite wing to what he has been training for there is a handling error (understandable). You did acknowledge that Lowe was a blow, but thsi was not a toothless attack, the French defense was beaten there.

The second instance is a kick to Nash, again he will not have trained as much on kick receipts and takes the ball into trouble. Ireland’s systemic preparation is massively important to them but vulnerable to a pre match injury.


As I said previously, in all parallell universes France win, but it might have been a better and more interesting contest without that Injury.


My hopeful view before that match was of a Leinster-LaRochelle type scenario with Ireland building a score and then withstanding an onslaught. Turned out first half was a low scoring Leinster-LaRochelle encounter. Second half was tired Leinster versus Fresh Toulouse.

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