Berrick Barnes is confident it won’t be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth when the Waratahs throw three playmakers at the Highlanders in Saturday’s Super Rugby clash in Dunedin.
Wallabies’ star Barnes will make his season debut after overcoming a groin injury and will line up at inside centre in place of Tom Carter, who drops to the bench despite scoring two tries in last week’s win over Melbourne.
In the only other change to the run-on team, Patrick McCutcheon starts at openside flanker in place of Chris Alcock, after recovering from a pre-season calf tear.
With the guile of Barnes favoured over the direct running of Carter, NSW coach Michael Foley has the rare luxury of three ball players in his backline.
Daniel Halangahu continues as five-eighth, goalkicker and captain and exciting youngster Bernard Foley is retained at fullback after an assured first Super Rugby starting role against the Rebels.
‘We’ve got three guys who can play 10, 12, 15 in the team, which helps the ball playing and gives us a bit of flexibility,” Barnes said.
He wasn’t worried the profusion of creative players could lead to confusion.
“You know your role. I’m not trying to be at 10, I’m trying to play at 12, and do the things that are required of me there and help Hangers (Halangahu) out where I can,” Barnes said.
“I’m not trying to boss him around or get in his way. I’m just trying to complement what he’s doing.”
Halangahu pointed out Barnes, Foley and himself had already combined successfully in a handful of club games last year for Sydney University.
“Berrick was at 15 and Bernard was at 12, but we did mix around there a bit as well,” Halangahu told AAP.
“We didn’t lose any of those games and we combined well and it’s comforting to know we’ve had that experience.
“One thing that we’ve talked about that is crucial is that we do not just juggle too much and we need to stick to our roles.
“I’ll go out there and play 10 and it’s important Berrick in his first week back just gets to concentrate on his game and doesn’t worry too much about doing anyone else’s job.
“While it would be stupid not to utilise each other’s skills at the right times it’s important that we stick to our roles and we’re accountable for doing exactly what our job is.”
In a late change announced on Wednesday, Jono Jenkins will come in for Alcock on the bench.
Alcock was replaced in Friday’s round-two match against the Rebels after taking a knock that required stitches to his left eyebrow and has not fully recovered.
With the team travelling to Dunedin on Thursday morning, Jenkins gets the chance to represent the Waratahs for the second time, after debuting in the victory over the Rebels, replacing Alcock in the 57th minute.
NSW Waratahs: Bernard Foley, Tom Kingston, Rob Horne, Berrick Barnes, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Daniel Halangahu (capt), Sarel Pretorius, Wycliff Palu, Pat McCutcheon, Dave Dennis, Kane Douglas, Dean Mumm, Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson. Res: John Ulugia, Paddy Ryan, Lopeti Timani, Jono Jenkins, Brendan McKibbin, Tom Carter, Brackin Karauria-Henry.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Coming off the bench, he scored a double as the Canes beat the Tahs 41-12.
Ben Grant looked to have scored but the officials found a knock-on after the initial charge down.
In a lopsided first half, attacking opportunities were few and far between for NSW.
The Hurricanes took the lead inside the opening three minutes setting the tone for a dominant first half.
It's another big week of trans-Tasman rivalry with four Aussie teams going up against Kiwi opponents and the Brumbies hosting the Fijian Drua. See…
The final result was 4-1 for the Kiwi sides but some of the results could easily have been different with a bit more maturity from the Aussies.
