In the wake of the NSW Waratahs’ draw with Durban-based side, the Sharks at Kings Park Stadium, we caught up with assistant coach Simon Cron for this week’s edition of the Daikin Cooldown.
1. The team fought hard to draw with the Sharks in a steamy Kings Park Stadium over the weekend. What did you make of the team’s performance?
We didn’t build pressure by maintaining possession and instead we let them off the hook through our own errors. We needed to build pressure and maintain our attacking shapes to make sure they had to defend for a higher number of phases across the park and we didn’t achieve this.
2. It was a physical game up front, how do you think the forwards handled the Shark threat in the set piece?
We transitioned well at lineout time into maul defence and executed our roles there. Defensively, I thought we put a lot of pressure on their lineout. In the scrum we were a mixed bag; we had a solid defensive scrum at key points but then we lost our way on our own ball which again released any pressure we mounted and gave away possession. Our scrum is a constant work-on and we still have some key areas here to fix.
3. A number of players made their debut for NSW including Mitch Short, Will Miller and Kalivati Tawake. How crucial were the bench to the end result?
They are huge for us. The boys that come on at the back end of the match often end up in big-game moments and those particular players did really well and added to the team’s performance.
4. What were some of the learnings that the NSW Waratahs can take away from the clash in Durban?
We have an identity on how we want and need to play, and we have to stick to that. The key now is to keep working on those skills that make up the patterns and systems so we execute them under pressure consistently.
5. Looking ahead to this weekend, what can we expect from Mario Ledesma’s Jaguares side in Buenos Aires?
They are a high energy team and are very strong up front in the forwards, so it will be another huge test for our set piece. Outside of the forward pack, the Jaguares possess some outside backs with plenty of firepower so we will have to be wary of that.
The NSW Waratahs have now begun preparations for this weekend’s clash against the Jaguares at their Buenos Aires home ground, Estadio José Amalfitani.
You can catch all the action live on Fox Sports at 8:30am (AEDT) on Sunday 11 March.
Missed out on the action last weekend against the Sharks? Check out the match-recap page now.
