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Injury toll rises with Max Jorgensen ruled out of Waratahs’ clash with Blues

Max Jorgensen of the Waratahs in action during the round three Super Rugby Pacific match between NSW Waratahs and Highlanders at Allianz Stadium, on March 08, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Wallabies hopeful Max Jorgensen has been ruled out of the Waratahs Round Four clash with the Blues at Allianz Stadium, with coach Darren Coleman having to make multiple forced changes.

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According to a Waratahs statement, Jorgensen has “likely succumbed to a niggling hip injury.” Mark Nawaqanitawase will shift to fullback in the absence of the injured 19-year-old.

Jorgensen joins the likes of David Porecki and Lalakai Foketi on the sidelines, with the Waratahs’ injury toll extending to a mammoth nine players.

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Hooker Mahe Vailanu, who has been quite impressive in Porecki’s absence, has also been ruled out due to concussion and won’t return until next week at the earliest.

Julian Heaven has been named to debut in Super Rugby Pacific in the No. 2 jumper, while reserve hooker Jay Fonokalafi received a call-up from Coleman while working on a building site midweek.

In some good news, Dylan Pietsch has been named to start on the wing after recovering from an eye injury, and Lachlan Swinton is line for his first minutes this season after being named on the bench.

The Waratahs will be desperate to bounce back in Round Four after losing a heartbreaking thriller at home against the visiting Highlanders last time out.

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Playmaker Tane Edmed missed a kick after the siren which would’ve seen the Tahs beat two New Zealand teams on the bounce – they defeated the Crusaders in Super Round.

“It was awesome to be back at Allianz last week and hopefully we can build on that crowd this Saturday,” wing Triston Reilly said.

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“The support of our fans has such a big impact on us as players and you could really feel their support as the game went down to the wire against the Highlanders.”

The Waratahs take on the Blues at 7:35 pm AEDT at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on Saturday evening.

Waratahs team to take on Blues

  1. Hayden Thompson-Stringer
  2. Julian Heaven
  3. Harry Johnson-Holmes
  4. Jed Holloway
  5. Fergus Lee-Warner
  6. Ned Hanigan
  7. Charlie Gamble
  8. Langi Gleeson
  9. Jake Gordon (c)
  10. Tane Edmed
  11. Dylan Pietsch
  12. Joey Walton
  13. Izaia Perese
  14. Triston Reilly
  15. Mark Nawaqanitawase

Reserves

  1. Jay Fonokalafi
  2. Angus Bell
  3. Tom Roos
  4. Miles Amatosero
  5. Hugh Sinclair
  6. Lachlan Swinton
  7. Jack Grant
  8. Harry Wilson

Players unavailable for selection: David Porecki (Achilles), Thomas Lambert (knee), Archer Holz (shoulder), Mesu Kunavula (knee), Lalakai Foketi (neck)< Max Jorgensen (hip_, Mahe Vailanu (concussion), Daniel Botha (concussion and neck), Theo Fourie (concussion)

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f
fl 2 hours ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

I ultimately don’t care who the best club team in the world is, so yeah, lets agree to disagree on that.


I would appreciate clarity on a couple of things though:

Where did I contradict myself?

Saying “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” is entirely compatible with ranking a team as the best - over an extended period - when they have won more games and made more finals than other comparable teams. It would be contradictory for me to say “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” and then completely ignore Leinster record of winning games and making finals.


“You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself.”

What you said (that I think trophies matter) is true, in that I said “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.”. Do you understand that Leinster won more games and made more finals than any other (URC-based) team did under the period under consideration?


“Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.”

I really don’t understand why you would think that this is irrelevant. You seem to be saying that winning trophies is the only thing that matters when assessing who is the best, but doesn’t matter at all when assessing who is 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.


“What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.”

Well then we’ve just been talking at cross purposes. In that my position (that Leinster were the best team overall in 2022-2024) was pretty clear, and you just decided to respond to a different point (whether Leinster were the best team individually in particular years) essentially making the entire discussion completely pointless. I guess if you think that trophies are the only thing that matters then it makes sense to see the season as an individual event that culminates in a trophy (or not), whereas because I believe that trophies matter a lot, but that so does winning matches and making finals, it makes it easier for me to consider quality over an extended period.

24 Go to comments
M
MT 2 hours ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

As I said in one of my first replies to you - we can agree to disagree. If you want to leave it no problem. I completely disagree with your ranking of Leinster as the best team in the world. Now you have said you will change it if Bordeaux win the Top 14. Well as Leinster themselves prioritise the CC over the URC and Bordeaux won the CC, how are they not ranked higher by you? Are Leinster one of the best teams, yeah - never said they weren’t. But not the very best team, as the very best team have trophies to show for their seasons. They matter when you discuss the very best.


You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself. Just so we are clear, you said you would too on my statement that I would rather be a fan of a team that won a trophy over the three seasons, but end the paragraph saying you would rather be a fan of the team that won the most matches but didn’t win a trophy. Both cant be true. Thats one example of where you contradict yourself.


Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.


What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.

24 Go to comments
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