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Michael Hooper needs to answer that question when he leads the Waratahs against the Highlanders tonight at Allianz Stadium – the clash of the 2014 and 2015 Super Rugby champions.
So far the Waratahs have beaten a well below-par Reds 30-10, and copped a rugby lesson from the Brumbies 32-15, before having a bye last weekend.
That would have been the perfect time for new head coach Daryl Gibson and his deputy Nathan Grey to shore up all that experience of 1034 provincial caps, averaging 69 for the starting line-up.
That’s a serious number which will increase when fly-half Bernard Foley returns from injury sooner than later, adding his experience of 66 appearances, and even more so when hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau overcomes his broken arm after 113 appearances.
No.8 Wycliff Palu returns with his 122 provincial caps in a pack that totals 572, or an average of 71.5 a man. That too is a serious number, as well as the total weight of 932 kilograms, or an average of 116.5 per forward.
That experience and man-power are more than enough to compete against any of the other 15 sides in the tournament. If the talent can match the serious numbers.
In the two games this season, the Waratahs’ lineout has been ordinary, the scrum woeful and both set plays have lacked the normal Waratah aggression which suggests the talent is there, but not surfacing.
That’s up to Gibson and Grey to lift the technical performance bar. Unless the pack is doing its job and providing controlled swift possession, the very swift backline can’t do their job.
The backs share 464 provincial caps, or an average 66.3 a man, with Kurtley Beale the senior player on 117 caps. He’s also the first choice goal-kicker with Foley sidelined.
But he would be the first to concede Foley’s first choice, leaving Beale to land those attempts beyond Foley’s range. That’s one of the reasons why the Waratahs probably won’t really hit their straps until Foley’s wearing the 10 jumper, and Beale the 12.
But in spite of that being in the future, the Waratahs must start accumulating points now to keep the in-form Brumbies in sight.
No better way to start than beating the Highlanders tonight, then the Reds and Rebels before the Waratahs’ second bye, then a return clash with the Brumbies.
That game will decide the pecking order of where the two best Australian sides will finish in the top eight of the combined Australian, New Zealand, and two South African Conferences for the finals series.