Waratahs halfback Brett Sheehan has defended the fitness of his team and said NSW were looking forward “to playing some football” in Friday’s Super 14 rugby clash with the Cheetahs at Sydney Football Stadium.

The Waratahs head into their sixth game of the season in seventh spot, 16 points behind the ladder-leading Crusaders who defeated them 34-7 in Christchurch last Friday.

While some of the teams above them have played one more game, NSW need to beat the second from bottom Cheetahs to stay in touch with the top four.

The Crusaders piled up 28 unanswered points inside the last half hour of their Christchurch encounter with the home team’s centre Casey Laulala questioning the Waratahs’ stamina.

Highlights of Round Six Super 14 matches

However, Sheehan was adamant fitness wasn’t an issue for the Waratahs who had outscored their opposition by a combined tally of 46-8 in their previous four Super games.

“I know we’re not an unfit team, it’s just momentum and stuff like that changed the game in that last 20 minutes,” Sheehan said.

“I’m not worried about our fitness. We’ve got a great conditioning team, we’ve worked hard, we’ve been training since November.”

The Waratahs backline has had limited opportunities and shown just fleeting glimpses of their potential this season, but Sheehan believed they were ready to cut loose on Friday given the right conditions.

“As a backline and as a whole team, we’re really looking forward to playing some football, I think we will get that opportunity this week,” Sheehan said.

He thought NSW played pretty well against the Crusaders and were penalised for a couple of mistakes and lapses in concentration.

“I guess it’s an attitude thing, but we’ve got to stay focused for the 80 minutes.”

Sheehan said they would definitely be looking for a try-scoring bonus point but Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie said he was focusing on just obtaining a victory.

McKenzie received some good news on the fitness front today with centre Ben Jacobs cleared of serious knee damage.

Jacobs was forced off the field in the second half of last Friday’s game after falling awkwardly in a tackle, but scans today revealed no significant damage and he was expected to be available for Friday’s fixture.

“Ben Jacobs ran this morning, so he’s looking much better,” McKenzie said.

The Waratahs coach said backs Sam Norton-Knight and Daniel Halangahu would both come into the selection mix this week after each missed the early season games through injury.

While neither man has played much rugby this year, McKenzie said they had both successfully gone through a “pretty searching return to train, return to play program”.

Wallabies lock Dan Vickerman sat out today’s session with a sore shoulder, but McKenzie said the problem was of no concern.

McKenzie and Sheehan were both wary of the Cheetahs’ ball-runners with the coach suggesting their lowly position was not indicative of their ability.

“They’ve scored some really good tries, they’ve got some speed on the wings and they’ve got the ability to play side-to-side,” McKenzie said.

© AAP 2012

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