Super 15: Waratahs fear no one
Phil Waugh insists the Waratahs fear nobody after storming into the Super 15 finals with an emphatic 41-7 victory over the Brumbies on Saturday night.
Staring down the barrel of an early end to the season after consecutive losses in South Africa, the injury-hit 'Tahs responded with back-to-back bonus-point wins to keep their hopes of a maiden provincial title alive.
Having being booed from the field by their own fans more than once this year, NSW turned on the style when it counted most, running in five tries to one against the struggling Brumbies.
The Waratahs face a major step up in competition in Friday night's final against the Blues, but the skipper is adamant his depleted side is ready for the challenge.
"I think we can beat anyone we can play against," Waugh said.
"It's important to take momentum into the finals and it's just a matter now of freshening up and getting guys on the field...I think we're in a pretty good space."
"I guess there's been a lot of focus on how we travelled in the middle of the season, but in saying that we still won a lot of games in the middle of the season and put ourselves in the position we're in now."
"I think sometimes we can get carried away with poor performances but I think the guys have battled really hard throughout the season."
"To be under the pressure that we've been under for the last two weeks, coming back from Africa and to have those two big wins like that, says a lot about the character of the guys heading into next week."
The Waratahs will be sweating on the availability of hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau (leg), flyhalf Daniel Halangahu (calf) and prop Al Baxter (concussion), who were all forced from the field in the second half on Saturday night.
"We had quite a few players who started the game with injuries and we always knew that they probably wouldn't get through the full game, so we'll have to reassess them when we do our medicals on Sunday and see how they pulled up," Hickey said.
"Hangers (Halangahu) just had a slight calf strain on a kick so we felt it was wise to get him out of there before it got any worse."
"Al got a bit of a head knock but we haven't had a chance to talk to the medical staff yet so we'll do those assessments on Sunday morning."
Having being booed from the field by their own fans more than once this year, NSW turned on the style when it counted most, running in five tries to one against the struggling Brumbies.
The Waratahs face a major step up in competition in Friday night's final against the Blues, but the skipper is adamant his depleted side is ready for the challenge.
"I think we can beat anyone we can play against," Waugh said.
"It's important to take momentum into the finals and it's just a matter now of freshening up and getting guys on the field...I think we're in a pretty good space."
"I guess there's been a lot of focus on how we travelled in the middle of the season, but in saying that we still won a lot of games in the middle of the season and put ourselves in the position we're in now."
"I think sometimes we can get carried away with poor performances but I think the guys have battled really hard throughout the season."
"To be under the pressure that we've been under for the last two weeks, coming back from Africa and to have those two big wins like that, says a lot about the character of the guys heading into next week."
The Waratahs will be sweating on the availability of hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau (leg), flyhalf Daniel Halangahu (calf) and prop Al Baxter (concussion), who were all forced from the field in the second half on Saturday night.
"We had quite a few players who started the game with injuries and we always knew that they probably wouldn't get through the full game, so we'll have to reassess them when we do our medicals on Sunday and see how they pulled up," Hickey said.
"Hangers (Halangahu) just had a slight calf strain on a kick so we felt it was wise to get him out of there before it got any worse."
"Al got a bit of a head knock but we haven't had a chance to talk to the medical staff yet so we'll do those assessments on Sunday morning."
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