Waratahs opt for consistency in quest for a first-ever win over the Jaguares
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson has resisted resting key Wallabies, naming his first unchanged starting line-up of the season for Saturday night’s crucial Super Rugby showdown with the Jaguares in Sydney.
Jed Holloway returns via the bench from a three-week suspension, replacing lock Tom Staniforth, while Andrew Tuala is the new reserve hooker in place of the banned Tolu Latu.
Gibson must still rest skipper Michael Hooper, playmaker Bernard Foley, fullback Kurtley Beale and prop Sekope Kepu for one match each before the end of the regular season under protocols agreed to help the Wallabies’ World Cup campaign.
But the Waratahs are precariously placed at third in the Australian conference with four rounds remaining and know they can’t afford any more slip-ups in their fight to stay in the finals race.
“We are in the fight for our lives in terms of staying alive in the comp and the conference. This game is incredibly important and we need to pick our best side,” coach Daryl Gibson said on Thursday.
“It’s nice to be able to be consistent. We have named a fairly consistent line up for most of the games in recent weeks and I think that’s really helping us. The team is settling down and knowing their roles well.”
Regarding the players that are still required to sit out matches as part of the Wallabies’ quest for World Cup success, Gibson suggested that rests would come only when the stakes weren’t quite so high.
“They’ll be (rested) somewhere. It’s just a matter of getting us to a point where we remain competitive.
“I have debated the strategy of resting our guys through different games but I have got to play the short game, not the long game.”
Gibson said teammates had accepted Latu’s apology after he was charged with drink-driving just two days out from last week’s win over the Queensland Reds – and then failing to alert Waratahs management.
“He is very apologetic for his behaviour and what that has caused not only to him and his family, but to the team,” Gibson said.
“He made a very heartfelt apology this morning, which was nice.”
Holloway is particularly hungry to get back in the thick of it, knowing he let teammates down when red-carded for elbowing prop Thomas du Toit in the head during last month’s loss to the Sharks.
“He was very remorseful and disappointed that his actions had on the team,” Gibson said.
“And that’s tough to live with as a player. There is zero tolerance to anything around the head, and discipline cost us potentially that game.
“But three weeks off has served him well and he has got over the rib complaint that had been troubling him and he’s come back ready to go.”
The Waratahs are yet to beat the Jaguares, coming up short 28-38 in Buenos Aires last year and getting thumped 27-40 in Sydney in 2017. The Jaguares have also never lost a match in Australia, so the Waratahs will face a tough challenge against the high-flying Argentinians.
Waratahs: Kurtley Beale, Alex Newsome, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Karmichael Hunt, Cam Clark, Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps, Michael Wells, Michael Hooper (c), Lachlan Swinton, Rob Simmons, Ned Hanigan, Sekope Kepu, Damien Fitzpatrick, Tom Robertson. Reserves: Andrew Tuala, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Chris Talakai, Jed Holloway, Will Miller, Jake Gordon, Lalakai Foketi, Curtis Rona.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments