Western Force coach Michael Foley has no interest in pumping up his return to Sydney to face the NSW Waratahs for the first time this Sunday, solely focusing on keeping the Perth-based Super Rugby franchise improving.
Foley spent the last four years with the Waratahs, including as coach in 2012, but if he feels there’s any added significance to Sunday’s Allianz Stadium, he’s not letting on.
The Force have won just once from five games so far this season, but it was a supremely victory over Queensland before last Saturday night’s 19-10 loss to the Cheetahs in Perth.
The Waratahs scored a thrilling win over the Blues last Sunday, but Foley was not prepared to say much much more than they’re playing well.
“They have plenty of threats and are playing good footy. I want to see our team take a step forward from last week,” Foley said.
“Our defence is slowly getting stronger and stronger, but the key point for us out of the game is that our attack has to be more disciplined with how we look after the ball, and the decisions we make are crucial for us to build pressure in the game.”
The Force have had some mixed news on the injury front with hooker Nathan Charles ruled out of the rest of the season with a knee problem.
However, Ben Whittaker returns to help Heath Tessman in that role while Sian Ebersohn (hip) and Pek Cowan (ribs) trained strongly on Tuesday after copping knocks on Saturday night.
“It looks like we have been a bit lucky again albeit Nathan’s injury is disappointing. The rest of the guys seemed to have pulled up pretty well,” he said.
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