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Waratahs brace for ‘semi-final’ battle with Beauden Barrett’s Blues
By Finn Morton
After keeping their season alive with a dramatic 91st-minute winner against the Western Force last weekend, the NSW Waratahs have turned their focus to a semi-final-like clash with the Blues at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday.
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Darby Lancaster was the hero for the Tahs last time out against the Force, with the winger pulling off a spectacular somersault finish to steal the much-needed win 22-17 with the last play of the match in Super Point.
It was an incredible finish to an enthralling battle between two Australian rivals, with that score keeping New South Wales’ hopes of playing finals football in Super Rugby Pacific alive for at least another week.
The equation is quite simple for the eighth-placed Waratahs, who firstly need to make history by beating defending champions the Blues at Eden Park. If the New South Welshmen are successful, they’ll make the playoffs if the Hurricanes beat Moana Pasifika.
“This week is our semi-final … to go over there and treat it as a semi-final and earn another week [in the competition] is really exciting,” fly-half Jack Bowen told reporters on Tuesday.
“Going over there and doing something that a Waratahs side hasn’t done for a decade is something that is really exciting.
“It’s a big game for both sides, and outside these walls probably no one is expecting us to go over there and get it done.
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“That takes the pressure off us and eases us up a little, but it’s a massive challenge we are going to be up for, and we have to go over and beat them.
“They are not going to beat themselves. We have to go and attack them.
“A massive thing is the mindset, going over there and genuinely believing we can win.
“We genuinely have the belief this week that we can go over there and beat them.”
When the Waratahs beat the ladder-leading Chiefs at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on April 11, they looked like a team more than capable of making the top six. But losses away to the Fijian Drua and ACT Brumbies followed, then back-to-back defeats to the Reds and Crusaders at home.
The Tahs have only won two of their last eight, those being the triumph over the Chiefs and the golden point thriller away to the Force, but remain in the race for playoff qualification. But the challenge that awaits is, historically, an incredibly tough matchup.
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Before the season started, the Blues were widely tipped as early favourites to defend their Super Rugby crown, having added All Blacks centurion Beauden Barrett to an already talented squad under coach Vern Cotter.
But with only five wins from 13 starts, the Blues sit just outside of the playoff picture, but could very well change that this weekend. For the Tahs, who are chasing the same top six prize, how they contain Barrett is “the million-dollar question.”
“In the back field, we are going to have to be on our money and make sure he plays off slow ball,” Bowen added.
“Otherwise, when he has quick ball and playing on top of teams, he can make you look like a fool.
“For us, it’s going to start up front and being really physical to try and slow his ball down so that he is playing off static ball and we can really go after him.”
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