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Waratahs boss calls for less 'toilet seat moments' as three key players set for sideline stints
By AAP
The Waratahs are bracing for life without key pair Jake Gordon and Joey Walton as coach Rob Penney called for less "toilet seat moments" in Saturday's Super Rugby AU clash with the Brumbies.
Gordon, in his first game as captain, scored after three minutes but it was all downhill from there in a season-opening 41-7 loss to the Queensland Reds in Brisbane.
Gordon was his side's best player but added more headaches for Penney when he limped off with an ankle injury in the second half.
No.12 Walton also suffered an ankle injury while No.13 Izaia Perese was red-carded for a dangerous tackle and will miss three games of an eight-game regular season.
Penney will name a replacement captain on Tuesday for a side already missing more than 1500 games of Super Rugby experience from departures in the last two seasons.
"They'll be out for a period of time, I don't know the level but certainly won't be available in next week or so," Penney said of Walton and Gordon.
The Waratahs allowed three tries in nine minutes after Gordon had scored, then kept the Reds scoreless for 20 minutes while a man down before the hosts crossed twice in the last nine minutes to set up their biggest Super Rugby victory over their state rivals.
"There were massive degrees of diversion," Penney said of the Waratahs' performance.
"There was some really good bits, but some really ugly bits.
"We're liable to have toilet seat moments - up and down - it's not an excuse, but we've just got to get better."
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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
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