Former Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles says his inconsistent NSW Waratahs team needs to improve their attitude and lift mentally and technically for a potential season-defining Super Rugby battle against his old side.
Defending champions NSW go into Sunday’s match in Sydney 10 points behind the Australian conference-leading Brumbies having played a game less than the Canberra-based franchise.
The Tahs have a 2-2 record, but have conceded a four-try bonus point in three of their four games.
The Waratahs excelled defensively last season and backrower Hoiles felt it was more a case of individual lapses that were the problem this season, rather than anything structural or different.
“It’s kind of a good summary of where we are at, at the moment, because a lot of defence is about attitude and we’re probably just off a little bit there,” Hoiles told AAP.
“Technically we can improve and probably mentally we can certainly add a little bit more focus to our game, so that’s what we are looking at this week.”
He said it wasn’t so much the mistakes, but how quickly they reacted after turning over possession.
Hoiles, who spent several seasons with the Brumbies, acknowledged the importance of Sunday’s game to the Waratahs.
“They will be pretty confident and that will make it harder for us,” Hoiles said.
“But we probably need something like that at the moment. We need a big challenge.
“We let ourselves down last weekend and we’ve been a little bit patchy so far, so it’s certainly our biggest challenge.”
While a loss could leave the Tahs trailing the Brumbies by as much as 15 points on the table, Hoiles stressed his team wasn’t obsessed with ladder position.
“We don’t really look too far ahead or look at the ladder at this stage of the season,” Hoiles said.
“Not even necessarily from a points point of view, but just from a performance point of view we need to start putting some really good form together.
“We do it for 20, 40, 60 minutes but we need to be able to do it for 80 minutes and against the Brumbies, I think this will be our best test.”
Former Wallaby forward Hoiles isn’t fretting over being used off the bench this season, saying he trusts the judgment of coach Michael Cheika.
MH01
Guest
Well it's TAHS WEEK!!!! I'm excited, just gutted the game is at 5 am on a Sunday in the UK . Time for me to become irrational , froth at the mouth and get over confident of beating NSW (stats in Sydney say otherwise)!!!! TAHS WEEK!!!
maxxlord
Roar Rookie
That is my point, tgey SCORED from going wide early but behind the decoy, wgen thet stopped the decoy going wide became ineffective.
RugbyRene
Roar Rookie
They will have to do more than lift. I reckon they'll have to build a time machine, go back 12 months and bring back the playing group from last year. Looking at the team this year it looks like they've forgotten everything they did to win the title last year.
jameswm
Guest
The Tahs just need to execute. It's that simple. I expect Robinson to clobber Alexander in the scrums. Kepu will hold Sio or get slightly on top. Phipps to make sure White puts the ball i n straight. Also, the Tahs need to be on to the Brums coming in from the side and not releasing. Carter is almost more cynical than Fardy now. And it'll be a great battle of the no.8s - the incumbent and the new guy. If Vaea can get it over Palu, he could come in to the teram. Vaea is also a good jackal, and Cliffy is underestimated in that he is a very good and accurate clearer outerer. I don't expect the Brums to make too many good metres. I expect Palu, TPN, Potgieter, Skelton, Kepu and Hooper to win the battle of the advantage line over Vaea, Moore, Sio, Fardy and Carter. CLL and Toomua are a smart inside back combination. I think this is th Tahs' biggest worry, closing these two down and stopping them from controlling the game.
Blinky Bill of Bellingen NSW
Guest
The Tahs need quick ball for their high octane style of play and our forwards don't seem capable of achieving that. :( The way I saw it, the Highlanders became better & better at slowing the ball down (Joubs allowing players not releasing after the tackle and rolling away towards our 9 didn't help our cause), and then the Highlanders did what the Tahs are aiming to do, only much better. Tahs forwards need to put fear into the opposition or come-up with a Plan B for when we get the wobbles.
RobC
Roar Guru
Tahs going too wide too early, and getting picked off the rucks. A tighter game, may reset their Cheik ball. Looking forward to the scrum battle, along with Rory vs Big Willy. Front row too. WB vs WB. Backrow also heck. Should be a great match and matchups all around
maxxlord
Roar Rookie
Tahs are playing a game which is dependent on making passes stick out wide and picking the right offloads to throw. Against the Highlanders they got it right first 20 then they went to sleep. To me it fell apart once they stopped throwing the pass behind the dummy runner out wide and just started going,hands. Folau was picked off by Fekitoa this way, in the first 20 every wide ball went behind the decoy/s and gave the next chap tine and space. Without this they just got picked of by the drift