It doesn’t matter whether Michael Hooper or Bernard Foley captains the Waratahs, there’s no guarantee what standard the team will produce.
They can be so brilliant and inspiring that their fans are on their feet applauding, and television viewers afraid to leave the loungeroom for another beer in case they miss the next electrifying play.
Or the dud Tahs see angry fans leave early, spitting chips they wasted their hard-earned, while television viewers dive for the remote.
A Jekyll and Hyde existence.
Let’s kick off with the duds, and the 29-0 loss to the Lions at Allianz, after four straight wins.
It’s the only time in 285 Super Rugby games the Waratahs haven’t troubled the scoreboard – they were an embarrassment to the fans, and themselves.
Not far behind was the 31-29 loss to the Crusaders. NSW haven’t won in Christchurch for 14 years, but they led 29-0 at the break only to give up 31 points in the second session.
Sure, there were some dreadful decisions by Kiwi referee Ben O’Keeffe, but how on Earth could the away side blow a 29-point lead? Only the Waratahs can answer that burning question.
And why were they beaten 40-31 by the Brumbies when a win would have clinched second spot on the overall ladder, and a home game for both the quarters and the semis.
It was worse than that.
The Brumbies led 40-24 on full time when the Waratahs scored a converted try.
That loss is why the Tahs are in Johannesburg at altitude to meet the Lions, instead of Alliance at sea level.
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To make it even more difficult, they face a strong and rowdy local fan-base, and a full complement of South African officials in referee Jaco Peyper, touchies Marius van der Westhuizen and Rasta Rasivhenge, with TMO Marius Jonker.
NSW will certainly be under the pump and have nobody but themselves to blame. So they had better produce the electrifying rugby that saw them thrash the Sunwolves 77-25 and send the Highlanders packing in the semis 30-23.
Both wins came from behind – 12-18 against the Sunwolves, and 6-23 against the Highlanders.
The 77 points were the most in Waratahs history, eclipsing the 73 against the Lions in 2010, while the 12 tries were also a record.
In the quarters, the Highlanders were in complete control, but in the space of ten brilliant minutes, Kurtley Beale burst through twice to send Israel Folau and Bernard Foley in for tries, and Folau did the same for Foley’s second – and the five-eighth converted all three.
So from 6-23 down it was 27-23, and for once in the game, the home side’s defence kept a rampaging Highlanders at bay in the last ten, while Foley added a penalty for the final result – keeping the Kiwis scoreless in the second half.
When push turns to shove, the Waratahs are capable of producing heroics. Unfortunately, they are just as capable of running dead.
The key to success against the Lions will be two-fold.
Be switched on from the kick-off, and defend as though their very lives depend on it – basic, but there are far too many times the Waratahs leave the basics in the shed.
But they do have two built-in basics.
Foley is the tournament’s leading points-scorer, with 217, while giant winger Taqele Naiyaravoro shares the tournament’s top try scorer’s honour with Hurricane Ben Lam, on 15 – a new Waratah record.
Which simply begs the question: what Waratah squad will take the field in Johannesburg – the electrifying, or the dud?
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