Wallaby turning blind eye to standings as Waratahs walk playoff tightrope

Believing their season’s not done yet, hooker David Porecki insists he won’t be ladder watching as he fights to keep the NSW Waratahs’ Super Rugby Pacific finals hopes flickering.

A third straight defeat last Friday night looked to have extinguished the Waratahs’ chances of sneaking into the playoffs.

But a precious bonus point in the despairing 28-21 derby loss to the Queensland Reds actually improved the Waratahs’ position to eighth on the table by the end of the weekend’s round.

Dan McKellar’s side enter their last home game of the season against the Crusaders on Friday night with renewed hope but knowing it will surely be lights out for 2025 with another slip-up.

Not that Porecki is getting distracted by the mathematical scenarios.

“Maybe there’s a few of us that think a bit differently about it, but I don’t necessarily look at it at all,” he said on Tuesday.

“I’m going out there to win, and you want to win well. So you want to win with a bonus point and the table will take care of itself.”

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Having only returned last week from a nagging calf injury after a month out – he was also sidelined last year with an Achilles issue that led to him contemplating retirement – Porecki’s bigger focus is merely staying on the park and trying to contribute to the Tahs’ last push for a finals berth.

“The medical team have done a great job in getting my calf back strong and, yeah, it was a shame obviously what happened with the result but it was good to finally run out,” said the one-time Wallabies captain.

“I was pretty close the week before but we just took a view that it was probably too risky so we held off and now I’ve just got to try and get a bit of match fitness back.”

A Wallabies recall for the showpiece three-Test series with the touring British and Irish Lions remains a goal but Porecki knows, realistically, he is well behind the eight-ball.

“I’m only one week back so I’m taking a very, very short-term approach, and I want to put my best foot forward for this club so we can play finals,” he said.

“And then it’s anyone’s game in finals.

“I’m always trying when I’m playing to put my best performance in and (hopefully) that’s good enough to warrant selection.

“But that Test level is based on performance so, if you’re performing well and you’re consistent throughout the year, then you put yourself in the window and you might get the tap on the shoulder.”