'A lot of old foes': Teams expecting fireworks in Australia's oldest rivalry

The NSW Waratahs claim fighting for Wallabies spots won’t be a factor as they chase redemption in a crucial Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Queensland Reds.

The Waratahs head to Brisbane to face the Reds on Saturday night off the back of a 40-point drubbing at the hands of the Hurricanes in Sydney.

Yet skipper Matt Philip insists neither the chance to impress Queensland’s incoming Wallabies coach Les Kiss nor backing up a 36-12 first-round win over the Reds last month is driving the Waratahs.

“I’m not going to think about the past results against the Hurricanes or the Reds,” Philip said.

“I’m not going to take anything from round one. They’ve also got players back as well. They’re a bit of a different team.

“We’ve got a different line-up. It’s at their home ground this time, so it’s a clean slate.”

The 31-capped Wallaby was blunt when asked on the importance of playing well to earn a call-up to the national team, saying “that’s not the motivation here”.

Instead, the key motivation for the Tahs will be bouncing back from their humiliating 59-19 thrashing by the Hurricanes.

“We weren’t up to standard last week, and we look to rectify that this weekend,” Philip said.

“We had some tough conversations at the start of the week, deserved conversations. Now I think we’re in a really good place to perform tomorrow.”

For Queensland, they have turned things around since a round-one loss to NSW, coming into the rematch with fine form after a hard-fought 34-31 win against the ACT Brumbies in Canberra.

Reds captain Fraser McReight is raring to go for what he believes is a true grudge match.

“It’s Queensland versus NSW, it doesn’t get much better than that,” McReight said.

“There’s a lot of old foes in the Tahs team, whether it’s mates or people we have a lot of history with.”

The skipper is wary of the dangerous Waratahs after the Reds have lost their past two match-ups with their arch-rivals.

“We know they’re going to be deadly,” McReight said.

“We’re cautious of them because they’re a great side and, obviously, they didn’t have the performance they wanted last weekend, but they’re definitely going to come out swinging.”

Undoubtedly, the Suncorp Stadium crowd will be a boisterous force cheering on their team, something McReight is incredibly grateful for.

“Thousands of Queenslanders having your back out there is pretty special,” McReight said.

“As a player on the field, you can hear them so loud … it feels like you have a 16th man out there.”