An ugly night for the Waratahs has soured even further, with Darren Coleman set to lose a number of first-choice players for their perilous quarter-final against the Blues at Eden Park on Friday.
Reputations were damaged while others came away injured, leaving Darren Coleman to count the cost of an “embarrassing” final home game of the season.
Captain Jake Gordon (concussion) and prop Harry Johnson-Holmes (syndesmosis) are set to miss the trip across the ditch while backrower Langi Gleeson (back) and utility back Izaia Perese (hip) are also in doubt.
“They’ll sort of race the clock to get right,” Coleman said.
“It always seems to be the way you play poorly, you get injuries and then you look up and it looks like it’s a massive mountain in front of you. It feels that way right now.
“But, as I said, we’re going to shake it off and get a night’s sleep on it and I’m looking forward to attacking it tomorrow.”
Darren Coleman says he’s got a big job getting the Waratahs back in the hunt to take on the Blues in next weekend’s quarter-final. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
The Waratahs will likely welcome back Lalakai Foketi for their quarter-final showdown as well as Dave Porecki, but the mountain is more Everest than Kosciuszko.
Indeed, Coleman’s men will head to Eden Park with history stacked against them.
They’ve won just once from 14 attempts at the venue since Super Rugby started in 1996, while you have to go back to 1928 for their only other victory.
And off the back of their ugly 33-24 loss in Sydney, Coleman said his side would embrace being written off against a Blues side packed full of All Blacks stars.
“Yeah, we have to. Of course. It’s hurting now. [I am] embarrassed now off the back of that,” Coleman said.
“We had such a good opportunity with such a good crowd and what would have been a good event to finish on a high. You see those juniors march in and you really want to win them over on the sport by having a team they look up to and we dish up that shit. I take full responsibility for that.
“My job is to lick my wounds tonight and then figure out how I’m going to get us out of it tomorrow and get going.
“We’re probably in a similar position to where I was when I took on the job. No one gave us too much of a chance. There was a lot of negative chat. I’ll figure out how I try and get us up. I’m hurting now. I’ll be ready to go by 6am.”
Harry Johnson-Holmes will miss the Waratahs’ final against the Blues after coming off injured against Moana Pasifika at Allianz Stadium on June 03, 2023 in Sydney. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
The Waratahs have known all week they would likely face the Blues and Coleman said they were well prepared going into their knockout match.
“We were prepped that was the most likely scenario,” Coleman said.
“The coaches have met today. We feel like we’ve got a plan on how to attack it.
“There’s no doubt we’ll have to be at or very near our best and we’ll have to have an incredible amount of effort and hustle and physicality to stay in it.
“Something we’ve been trying to do all year is combine execution with effort. Some days we get a bit of both. Not much of one, too much of the other. That’ll be the task for the week.
“Obviously we won’t get too much training done with a six-day turnaround and a trip over there mixed in. We’ll take stock of who we’ve got.
“I think we’ve put too much work in for the last eight months to fly the white flag. I just need a bit of time to shake that performance off and regroup for tomorrow morning.”
Jake Gordon came off injured in the second half following a concussion against Moana Pasifika at Allianz Stadium on June 03, 2023 in Sydney. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Experienced forward Hugh Sinclair, who missed his side’s poor 55-21 loss to the Blues at Eden Park in April because of injury, said the Waratahs knew the challenge ahead of them but added his side would embrace the knockout match.
“Yeah, look, It’s tough. It’s one of the toughest assignments you can have,” he said.
“We had a decent learning curve with the Chiefs last year, that was the first week of finals as well, so I think we take some lessons out of that. But yeah, Eden Park, it’s a different beast. It’s their fortress. Australian Rugby hasn’t done well there. But finals are a funny thing. Strange things can happen.
“We’ve got to stop them from scoring points and if we do that, anything could happen. We get a few players back next week, a couple of Wallabies. That always helps. We’ll be in it.
“You’ve got to have a crack. As DC [Coleman] said, we’re not going to wave the white flag. We’re going to go out there and have a go. Yeah, we’ve got a couple of injuries, but at the end of the day, it’s 15 Kiwis versus 15 Aussies. We play the Aussie way, we play our way. We play with some more accuracy, we play tough and we’ll be all right, we’ll get the result.”
Malotru
Roar Rookie
You are simply all class Guess and you wonder why Rugby in Australia is struggling. Attitude may be a big part of that.
Malotru
Roar Rookie
And your point is Guess? Look, I'm not having a go at the Force or Australian Rugby in general, just trying to reflect that there are structural issues with the game here and that addressing these needs to be addressed by RA. Buying players from League etc will not address these shortcomings. This scenario has been playing out for at least the last 15 years and nothing has changed. Having a pop at Kiwis for pointing them out is disingenuous, I think you will find that most Kiwis want Australia to be more competitive, after all what other winter sport is there?
Guess
Roar Rookie
Yes you're right. We know our team and know what to expect while that clueless clown just making noises
Guess
Roar Rookie
Is someone forcing you to read this site? You can always like you know gtfo
Guess
Roar Rookie
Clearly you're clueless
Guess
Roar Rookie
He isn't much of a carrier either. He's good at lo. I think that's the main reason they prefer him.
Guess
Roar Rookie
You’re so smart.. If Aussies will take out all your best players you also will be average
FrancisF
Roar Pro
Malotru Most likely I will watch Netflix at that timr slot until the game is over to find out the final score. If Waratahs or Reds win, I will watch the replays at least 10 times to see how they did it or there was a Hand of God, as experienced by Maradona when Argentina won the soccer World Cup.
Wizz
Roar Rookie
I agree On Bobby and Langi must picks for pack got to penetrate behind opp line this WC and get backs attacking thru retiring defence...too many set piece robot type of guys been taught to not give up pill but also not hurting defence with soft Carries.
Chad
Roar Rookie
Good post Big L.
Lebowski
Roar Rookie
So strange that NZ have better players, resources and coaches for their number one sport. Not really sure why all the kiwis on the comments are honing in on the referee discussions. In the last three weeks there were a number of tries given without going to the TMO that weren't grounded or had obvious forward passes. Also a guy with a broken neck had his legs chopped from him with a no arms tackle. This is not a high standard of officiating and is rightly called out. To call people whingers constantly like kiwi fans didn't lose it over the final call in the British and Irish lions or how you comment on how the crusaders get away with everything when they are playing local teams like the blues is so disingenuous. Though you haven't used the word "whingers", there seems to be a number of comments going on about this and is just honestly sad to watch. How are kiwi rugby league fans reacting to the Warriors when they feel hard done by? Might be that when it's not your number one sport and your resources aren't as good as the rest of the comp, those small advantages are actually quite big and all you want is a dog in the fight. It seems like fans on an Australian sport website discussing their opinions on a game are being blind sided by the type of fans that jump on to the Facebook page of their opponents and dig in. If you're self esteem needs that, go for it and tell yourself the 7 likes you get from people doing the same thing as being knighted king of the opinions. I'll go jump on stuff NZ article on the Connor vest injury and reply to all the people saying that it was a rugby injury and no foul play and explain to them to protocols of a no arms tackle to the legs. Weird how they don't whinge about the ref but say "right decision" when most the media commentators on both sides of the ditch understand the rules objectively. Almost like sport opinions can be emotionally driven some times. Hope my generalisations have trumped your generalisations. It's important stuff.
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Not being snarky Hunters, rather I'm suggesting that this site is full of folks who are quite happy to state that if it wasn't for injuries, the draw, the refereing, the weather, the travel, the alignment of the planets etc. Aussie sides would all be unbeatable. My belief is that NZ teams are more committed, more focussed, better trained, better prepared, physically stronger and more skilful than their Aussie counterparts. To give an example of this I recommend that you watch (if you haven't already done so) the Hurricanes v Chiefs game. Chalk and cheese I'm afraid. RA has an awful lot to answer for in my view.
Kevin Kranston
Roar Rookie
The Kiwi sides bully so many of our guys – Tahs pack was bullied by Moana, Reds bullied by Drua, Understandable the Reds forwards were bullied as they have two Wallabies in the pack, but the Tahs have 6 Wallabies in the pack, so what is their excuse?
savant
Roar Rookie
That’s 2 out of 40 forwards who can make gainline….
Hunters
Roar Rookie
Not sure I agree with the ‘form’ comment about MN. 1 ½ games at less than previous level is not form. However I agree he hasn’t been up to his own standard. But Eddie would have noticed his overall performance including when he didn’t have the ball. The past 2 weeks desperation infected his decision-making more than I would like. But he can learn from that. And he can learn how to go a bit lower and drive through with his legs in the tackle (unless it’s fear that has him going too high).
Hunters
Roar Rookie
I think you’re confusing excuses with doubt/frustration/concern. Some of these comments are from Waratahs fans who aren’t thinking about post game rationalisation. They’re thinking about pre game fears about what may well happen based on recent experience. Or are you just trying to be snarky for fun?
Keggy
Roar Rookie
Skelton is not the answer. And you will see that when Eddie selects him.
soapit
Roar Guru
Yep it's a clear tactic from the catcher to run behind them as a screen. They all do it now and why not, ref doesn't penalise
Rugbytrylover
Roar Rookie
Bearswanatah. ‘Brain dead robotic play’… you hit the nail on the head there. The Waratahs, under Coleman, are way too predictable in attack. We couldn’t win a line out all night, yet every penalty we received, they kicked for touch? Go figure. The opposition needs to be kept guessing as to what you are going to do. There is none of that at the Tahs, although I seem to remember Donaldson tried a cheeky kick off over the Moana team slow in getting back with Hooper chasing like a demon that nearly paid off. Need more of that. You don’t beat Kiwi sides playing predictable rugby.
scubasteve
Roar Rookie
Disagree for Langi and Rob. Both puncture lines. Langi was injured last night so that's why you didn't see a lot from him. Mark N also has very good penetration