The rugby gods haven’t done Chris Hickey any favours. The Waratahs coach will be counting on pride to beat the Blues at Eden Park on Friday night to stay alive in the Super Rugby finals.
Hickey has 10 frontline injuries, he’s about to call up his 37th player this season, his side has lost all four overseas games, and won just once at Eden Park in 80 years – the 27-22 success in 2009.
Drought.
It seems all doom and gloom on paper, but that means nothing compared to the 80 minutes on the paddock.
It’s stand up and be counted time. Big time.
Missing will be Berrick Barnes (migraines), Tatafu Polota-Nau (knee), Daniel Halangahu (hamstring), Drew Mitchell (ankle), Sekope Kepu (knee), Al Baxter (concussion), Damien Fitzpatrick (shoulder), Ben Mowen (ankle), Wycliff Palu (hamstring), and Rob Horne with an on-going elbow injury.
Carnage.
It’s interesting to see how many of the injured brigade played in those four overseas losses:
* Lost 18-33 to the Crusaders – Horne, Mitchell, Halangahue, Mowen, Baxter, Polota-Nau, and Kepu played; Fitzpatrick came off the bench.
* Lost 17-31 to the Blues – Mitchell, Halangahue, Mowen, Kepu, and Polota-Nau were on duty; Baxter on the bench.
* Lost 21-26 to the Sharks – Halangahue, Mowen, Kepu, and Polota-Nau played; Baxter bench.
* And lost 17-23 to the Bulls – with Barnes, Halangahue, Mowen, Baxter, and Polota-Nau on duty.
But the most telling miss was warrior-skipper Phil Waugh against the Blues, Sharks, and Bulls. The Waratahs grow in stature when he leads from the front.
And he’ll be on duty come Friday night.
But there are three other positives chalked up by the Waratahs in the tournament, defying the rugby gods:
* Second with 43 tries scored to the Reds, and Crusaders, with 44 – the Blues and Cheetahs 40, the Sharks 39.
* Second with 21 tries conceded to the Stormers incredible 14 from 16 games – Sharks 26, Crusaders 27, and Reds 30.
* The clincher, the Waratahs conceded the least number of points with 252, Stormers 257, Crusaders 273, Reds 309, and the Sharks 339.
Which says volumes for a franchise that’s been hammered by injuries all season, yet stuck to it to score tries and keep opponents short of the white line.
That will be the story Friday night to set up a blockbuster semi against the Reds at a chockers Suncorp.
Mouth-watering stuff.
Queensland have pushed the Hurricanes and the Blues giving the Reds coach confidence they can match it with the top teams.
Queensland led by seven late in the game, but conceded two late tries to the Kiwi side who claimed a late victory.
The Queensland winger was making his starting debut and he made his tries look like he was a veteran in that position.
Queensland led by seven points with six minutes remaining but the Kiwi side scored two tries - one after the 80 minutes to snatch…
But the winger's three tries weren't enough as the Blues stole a late win 41-37.
The Queensland centre created the try out of nowhere with a perfect chip and chase to find the flying winger to run away and…
