Super Rugby heart-break will boost Waratahs
Waratahs assistant coach Chris Whitaker believes their heart-breaking loss to the Brumbies will ultimately help, not hinder, their Super Rugby AU campaign.
The Waratahs looks headed for an upset victory over the competition heavyweights on Saturday night before a late converted try secured the Canberra team a 24-23 win.
Whitaker said while the general feeling was "bitter disappointment", they could already see positives in the performance, particularly with so many youngsters in key positions.
"I thought we did enough in the game to win it," said Whitaker, the former Wallabies halfback.
"There were periods where we played some really good football; the game plan worked really well - it's just that ability to close those games out.
"We are learning each game and have gotten better each week and the boys have taken a fair bit of confidence out of it."
The next conquest for the Waratahs are Melbourne, who they host at the SCG on Friday ni ght.
Halfback Jake Gordon and centre Lalakai Foketi could make their first appearance in the domestic competition, adding some much-needed experience against the Wallaby-stacked Rebels.
The pair have been battling hamstring injuries and still need to pass fitness tests to play while prop Angus Bell, who hurt his back in the warm-up is no certainty.
The Rebels have had a loss and draw from their two outings and will be desperate for a win to keep in touch with the leaders.
"They are going to be tough opposition," Whitaker said.
"There's quality in the forwards, some really strong ball carriers and half a dozen Wallabies thrown in so it's going to be a good contest for the boys."
Latest Comments
Think we have to accept we have been on the slide for a while now.Still interesting to see the repeated media pieces about the myth of the ABs slipping-I would say slipped past tense.In part don’t we have to give credit for the improvement of other nations particularly Ireland?Isnt that good for the game?Are we beginning to feel the impact of losing the Boks from Super rugby and maybe soon TRC?I would agree we are also ran right now so will be interesting to see how we progress-assuming we do!Isnt that part of sport though to be in improvement mode?Back to the stats though I think the Boks were under 60% leading into 2019?Now with the focus on the RWC does it matter so much what you are doing between tournaments?You just get through your group(remembering the ABs qualified 2nd in 2023)and then you have 3 matches to win the thing.
Go to commentsThe ABs have more than enough back line guys so don’t see issue there. Just the balance at center and feel time for Rieko to sit out.Forwards- balance still not right. Front row ok but miss Codie. But still ok. Locks- you now need to start s a tall timber at middle of lineout- Darry is the right guy. Then move Sititi to 8, move Ardie to 7 and then move Vaai to blindside. He can become the closest to PSdT . Then have proper bench as this is not a demotion but key to dominating last 30 minutes- Patrick, Ofa etc are golden here. Get the balance right between starters and finishers
Go to comments