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Wallabies quartet cleared of injury ahead of Waratahs' quarter-final
By AAP
The NSW Waratahs' hopes of an Auckland upset have received a boost with a Wallabies quartet cleared of injury ahead of their Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final against the Blues.
Jed Holloway, Langi Gleeson, Izzy Perese and Lalakai Foketi all passed fitness tests to take their place in the starting side for their do-or-die encounter on Friday night at Eden Park.
Wallabies hooker Dave Porecki will also return after missing their shock final-round home loss to Moana Pasifika, with coach Darren Coleman making six changes to the starting team.
Porecki is part of a new-look front row alongside Archer Holz and Tetera Faulkner, with Holloway taking the place of Hugh Sinclair in the second row.
Gleeson has overcome a back injury to start at No.8 ahead of Taleni Seu.
Newly re-signed Foketi will return to inside centre in his first appearance since round 11, partnering Joey Walton.
The back three remains from Moana with Perese and Dylan Pietsch on the wings and Mark Nawaqanitwase at 15.
Harrison Goddard will wear the No.9 jumper for the second time with Waratahs captain Jake Gordon unavailable due to concussion protocols.
Striving to become the first Australian side to win a finals match in New Zealand in 27 years of Super Rugby, Coleman said the team planned to play like they had nothing to lose.
The Waratahs have lost their past eight games against the Blues, including a record 55-21 defeat last month, and have won only once at Eden Park in 14 Super Rugby meetings since 1996.
"We understand the enormity of the opposition on their home patch, but it's something we look forward to ripping into," Coleman said.
"We've had a good short week of prep and will play like a team with nothing to lose."
NSW: Tetera Faulkner, David Porecki, Archer Holz, Jed Holloway, Ned Hanigan, Lachlan Swinton, Michael Hooper (capt), Langi Gleeson, Harrison Goddard, Ben Donaldson, Dylan Pietsch, Lalakai Foketi, Joey Walton, Izaia Perese, Mark Nawaqanitawase. Reserves: Mahe Vailanu, Tom Lambert, Nephi Leatigaga, Taleni Seu, Charlie Gamble, Teddy Wilson, Tane Edmed, Harry Wilson.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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