Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Waratahs without five Wallabies in must-win Super Rugby clash against Highlanders

Waratahs duo Kurtley Beale and Michael Hooper. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

The Waratahs’ unenviably difficult task of trying to qualify for the Super Rugby play-offs have gotten that much harder as head coach Daryl Gibson has followed through on a promise to rest five of his key players for this week’s must-win clash against the Highlanders in Invercargill.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bernard Foley, Kurtley Beale, Michael Hooper, Sekope Kepu and Rob Simmons are all absent from Gibson’s match day squad for the Waratahs’ final regular season match, which they need to win by a bonus point margin to keep their slim post-season hopes alive.

The Wallabies quintet have been sidelined as part of the resting policy of Australian internationals in Super Rugby, and have been replaced by first-five Mack Mason, wing Cam Clark, flanker Will Miller, prop Harry Johnson-Holmes and lock Ned Hanigan, respectively.

“I’ve been very consistent by putting out pretty much the same team every week and these guys are really energised and enthusiastic about going and fighting and representing the team … Mack’s one of those guys,” Gibson said.

“We need to give him that opportunity so he can find out exactly what the level is and experience that. I fully expect him to front up and be on for the game.”

The elevation of Miller and Johnson-Holmes from off the bench into the starting lineup allows for Rory O’Connor and Ryan McCauley to come into the reserves, while the only other change in the starting lineup is at blindside flanker, where Hugh Sinclair will make his first start for the club.

Wallabies hooker Tolu Latu was ineligible for selection as he is due to appear in court on Friday regarding a drink driving charge, so he is replaced on the pine by Andrew Tuala, who joins Shambeckler Vui, Jack Dempsey and Tautalatasi Tasi as the other changes among the reserves.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the absence of Hooper from the starting lineup, departing veteran Nick Phipps will captain the side from halfback in what will likely be his last game for the Waratahs.

Waratahs team to play the Highlanders: 1. Harry Johnson-Holmes, 2. Damien Fitzpatrick, 3. Tom Robertson, 4. Ned Hanigan, 5. Tom Staniforth, 6. Hugh Sinclair, 7. Will Miller, 8. Michael Wells, 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Mack Mason, 11. Curtis Rona, 12. Lalakai Foketi, 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14. Cam Clark, 15. Alex Newsome.

Bench: 16. Andrew Tuala, 17. Rory O’Connor, 18. Shambeckler Vui, 19. Ryan McCauley, 20. Jed Holloway, 21. Jack Dempsey, 22. Jake Gordon, 23. Tautalatasi Tasi.

In other news:

Video Spacer

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'Borthwick needs to have faith in Marcus Smith' Mick Cleary: 'Borthwick needs to have faith in Marcus Smith'
Search