Saturday’s crucial clash at Allianz Stadium will prove to be a crucial encounter for the NSW Waratahs and Western Force as both teams look for victory after a slow start to the season.
Back at home at Allianz Stadium, the Waratahs are looking to kick start their season as the team hits the halfway mark in the Super Rugby Pacific Competition.
Here are the five things you need to know ahead of the match.
- The Tahs face familiar foes
The Waratahs will face some familiar foes with some ex-Sky-Blue members on the horizon, including Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams, Tom Horton and of course Force Head Coach Simon Cron. Despite these connections, the Tahs are not looking to give sympathies to any of their Force-Friends.
“We did plenty of battling here at the ‘Tahs and it’s probably a lot easier now he’s [Tom Robertson] in another jersey now” Harry Johnson-Holmes told reporters on Tuesday.
Tom Robertson debuted for the Waratahs in 2016 before he made his move to the wild west at the end of the 2020 season. The 28-year-old with face off against his old side but not alone, with fellow ex-Waratahs players Jeremy Williams and Tom Horton also named in the Western Force starting team.
Jeremy Williams debuted for the Waratahs in 2021 and played twelve games across Super Rugby AU and Trans-Tasman, with five games in 2022. Williams is a longstanding friend and teammate of the NSW Waratahs, representing the Eastern Suburbs with Will Harris, Teddy Wilson and Jack Bowen at the Shute Shield, in addition to his Junior Wallabies stint with Harris.
Tom Horton signed for the Waratahs at the end of 2019 after some head-turning performances for Sydney University in the Shute Shield before joining the Force in 2022 after a brief stint with Leicester in England.
Western Force Head Coach Simon Cron is no stranger to Sky-Blue either. The former Assistant Coach was with the Waratahs in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Super Rugby season.
Johnson-Holmes commented on the “trademark” style of play that Cron enforces.
“They play probably not high emotion footy, probably more that process driven footy that he [Simon Cron] likes to kind of trademark”.
“What’s evident with the way they play is they want to get heads down. They’re playing games where they look like they’re gone for all money and come back with a late surge. That’s probably a testament to the low emotion footy that comes into it. They’re fifteen men looking to do a job and they don’t care what happens the minutes before” Johnson-Holmes said.
Some banter has bubbled amongst the boys too.
“I caught up with Tom Horton and he’s getting a bit lippy now that he’s playing a few more minutes over in the West” Johnson-Holmes joked with reporters.
Stay tuned as the Waratahs look to bring some force to their Force-Friends this Saturday.
2. Close losses to competition leaders provide plenty of confidence
Plenty of positives are on the horizon for the Waratahs from the past two losses against competition heavyweights the Chiefs and ACT Brumbies.
In Round 6, an undermanned Waratahs went down 14-24 to the Chiefs with Waratahs Head Coach Darren Coleman forced to make multiple changes to his matchday 23 with 13 front-line players missing. The Waratahs still showed plenty of fight throughout the match with their trademark blue wall of defence.
In Round 7, the Waratahs demonstrated their strongest performance yet and came within minutes of claiming a huge upset win against one of the competition heavyweights.
3. The Waratahs seek 80 minute performance
The Waratahs are searching for a complete performance this weekend after showcasing moments of flair in the last two rounds.
“We definitely got to step it up to make sure we ice the cake in the final minute” Johnson-Holmes told reporters.
“They’re (Western Force) are going to play for 80. So, you know, the 78 minutes beforehand is gonna be, you know, just as important as the last two” claimed Johnson-Holmes.
With this awareness in mind, the Waratahs are ready to through everything at this weekend.
“You got boys itching to go out there and throw their body on the line” Foketi told reporters.
4. Bye-Week arrives at perfect time for Tahs
The Waratahs are also feeling refreshed after a much-needed bye break.
Centre Lalakai Foketi told reporters that the Bye-Week helped the Waratahs build off their past performances.
“We took a lot of positives out of the game [Round 7, Brumbies v Waratahs]”.
“Coming into a bye, I think, you know we can build off that” Foketi said.
“It came at a good time, let the boys freshen up, get their bodies right and especially mentally, you know, go away and get away from footy” Foketi also admitted.
After a break from footy and an appropriate amount of Easter chocolate, the team have recharged and come back fresh for the Force.
5. Finals position up for grabs
The Waratahs-Force game will prove to be a crucial clash for both sides, with a congested bottom half of the table, finals spots are well and truly up for grabs.
With just six competition points separating 6th and 11th spot on the table, the run home to the finals is set to be wild affair.
“We’re excited for the road ahead” Foketi told reporters on Tuesday.
“We’ve spoken about this week, you know, the road ahead. We’ve got 8 games to, I guess, not win, but to show what we can do” Foketi said.
The Waratahs are looking to take advantage of the home fixtures coming up with five of their remaining matches to be played at Allianz Stadium. Capitalising on the home crowd, the Tahs will look to embrace the love from the NSW rugby public.
Johnson-Holmes also touched on the road to the finals and the importance of every remaining game.
“When you’re not afforded the luxury of wins early in the year, you probably start getting a few more must-win games,” Johnson-Holmes said.
“We’ve got a pretty important run home and you know, some tough competition coming up, and we see this as a good way to put a line in the sand as to where we put our season back on track” .
