NSW coach Chris Hickey is confident there’ll be no repeat of the shocking performance last time the Waratahs came off a Super Rugby bye when they meet the Lions on Saturday.
The Waratahs were beaten by the Cheetahs 23-3 in round five after a round four bye, handing the South African franchise their first win of the season.
This week they play the bottom-placed Lions, who are coming off their second win of the season, a 29-20 victory over the Brumbies in Canberra.
Hickey believes the bye has been good for the injury-hit Waratahs after their scrappy 20-15 win over the Western Force in round 12 but admits having the week off does have its challenges.
“There’s lot of ways you can manage the bye and all the key physical indicators that we measure indicate that the bye has been really good for the players both physically and mentally,” Hickey said.
“They’re quite refreshed, training yesterday was as good as we’ve trained … coming off the bye you probably have to be a little bit more focused.
“You learn your lessons throughout this competition and coming off the last bye we didn’t perform as well as we would have liked to.
“Players learn a lesson from that and I’m sure it won’t be an issue on Saturday night.”
Mike G
Guest
The Brumbies did us (Tahs fans) a favour last week. As if the Tahs losing after the last bye w/e wasn't enough motivation for this coming (post bye) round, now the players know they are up against a formidable opponent (& anyone who says otherwise did not watch the game in Canberra...the Lions were excellent from 1-22). I also find it funny (& arrogant/ignorant), of non Tahs fans to have been sooo critical of the Tahs after the loss to the Cheetahs, when I don't see too much input on the Roar about the Crusaders losing to them as well. If you can dish it out to the Tahs, guys (as so many of you like to do), at the very least have the guts to admit that perhaps your opinions may've been thrashed about a tad hastily...the Cheetahs are on a 3 game winning streak & have lost a bunch of games by <7, they are clearly not duds at all.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
Firstly, do professional rugby players really forget how to play if they have a week off? Chris, maaate, it is only a few days since the last game. Is he really saying that the team will lose focus and ability because of a couple of extra days off? (Please don't insult us all by going on about momentum, it stopped when the ref blew full time in the last game.) So to make it easier for you Chris, Ok, are you paying attention? Good. The bendy bit in the middle of your arm is your "Elbow". The bit you sit on is your "A**e". You seem to not know the difference.
Emuarse
Guest
I wonder if the Waratahs and Brumbies swapped over, with the Brumbies moving to Sydney & vice versa, if it would make a difference to either side? (Tongue in Cheek)