Waratahs' solution for bettering bigger teams that hasn't paid off just yet
Attack coach Chris Whitaker won't discourage his battling NSW Waratahs from offloading, admitting they don't have the size to play a power game.
The Tahs lost their first two Super Rugby games, by 18 points to the Crusaders and 20 to the Blues, each time paying the price for botching potential scoring opportunities with poor ball control.
In the two instances NSW held onto the ball for more than eight phases against the Blues, they scored tries.
"As coaches, the last thing we're going to tell the boys is to stop the offloads," Whitaker said.
"We're not a team that can go out there and just play one pass, tuck it under their wing and carry into contact because we're not big enough to do that.
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"It's just that selection of when to throw that pass and when you hang on to it."
He said rookie five-eighth Will Harrison was going really well, but thought moving veteran utility back Kurtley Beale to fly-half for the last 25 minutes of Saturday's game also worked well.
Whitaker was non-committal about the backline configuration for Friday's clash in Melbourne with the Rebels, who are also winless.
But he said former Melbourne utility back Jack Maddocks wasn't far away from landing a starting gig after making some impact at fullback off the bench against the Blues.
Alternative five-eighth Mack Mason has resumed kicking following a groin injury, forward Ned Hanigan is set to return from concussion either this week or next, and winger Mark Nawaqanitawase only suffered a fat lip from his awkward landing in Saturday's loss.
The match in Melbourne is the Tahs' first derby of the season, with Whitaker stressing the importance of winning Australian conference games.
"Neither of us have won a game; that's irrelevant at this stage," Whitaker said.
"I think both teams want to win it for the fact that it's a derby."
He noted the Rebels employed a similar defensive style to the two Kiwi teams that NSW played.
"The way they defend, they are quite tight. They are getting off the line really hard," Whitaker said.
The Tahs' own defence will come under scrutiny after leaking 11 tries across the first two rounds, with the players still adjusting to the demands of defence coach Phil Bailey, who was only appointed two weeks before their first game this season.
"We're learning as we go, obviously having (previous defence coach) Steve (Tandy) here for so long, and now Phil coming in and changing bits and pieces. It's definitely not an excuse," Whitaker said.
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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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