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Waratahs warned off buffets amid flip-flopping Super Rugby season
By AAP
Buffets are off limit as the NSW Waratahs face the realisation they need to win at least four or their last five regular-season games to squeeze into the Super Rugby Pacific finals.
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A points-less bye and deflating loss to the last-placed Fijian Drua, a week after bringing down the table-topping Chiefs, have sent the Waratahs tumbling out of the top six for the first time all season.
Dan McKellar’s side head to Canberra to face the coach’s former ACT Brumbies sitting precariously in seventh spot, one competition point behind the Western Force.
Refusing to hit the panic button, McKellar has crunched the numbers and knows exactly what the Waratahs must do to make the top-six playoffs.
“There’s always results and outcomes and swings and you’ve certainly got to win your home games and then try and jag a couple on the road,” he said on Thursday.
“We’ve got a game in hand, us and the (Queensland) Reds have had our second bye, so destiny’s in our own hands.
“We’re in full control of what we want to do and it’s a good thing and, yeah, it’s an important game down in Canberra.”
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While the Waratahs are unbeaten in five matches at their Allianz Stadium fortress, they have lost all four away from home.
That only raises the stakes for Saturday night’s derby with the third-placed Brumbies, themselves jostling desperately for a finals spot after a disappointing defeat to the Hurricanes.
“Yeah, a loss at home and then obviously a loss to us last time up here a few weeks ago so I’m sure they’ll be ready to go,” McKellar said.
“It’s the Brumbies versus the Waratahs so these games, whether there’s a streak or sort of form and ladder position, all that goes out the window.
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“It’s a rivalry that’s been around for a number of years now and one that the players get excited about, and I’m sure (coach) Joe (Schmidt) and the Wallabies coaching staff will be watching this one really closely.”
After the Brumbies battle, the Tahs host the fourth-placed Reds and second-placed Crusaders before finishing with successive away fixtures against the Force in Perth and defending champion Blues in Auckland.
Overcoming their travelling woes will be critical to the Waratahs’ finals – and title – hopes.
“We’re certainly looking closely into it. We’ve had some good periods away from home,” McKellar said.
“Fiji was obviously disappointing. We just didn’t execute well over there. Tough conditions, but certainly not an excuse from our end.
“But it’s an individual thing. It’s making sure that there’s no distractions to allow you to go out there and perform at the level that you want to perform at.
“There’s different things. You’re in a hotel, there’s a buffet sitting around. If you want to over-eat and sleep in until 11 o’clock and be a little bit lethargic, then it’ll flow into your performance.
“So we’re doing a lot of work around just really making sure that our individual routine and schedule is where it needs to be so, collectively, we can do what we want to do.”
