Waratahs reload ‘strike weapons’ as season goes on line against Brumbies

On most occasions, Australian derby clashes in Super Rugby lean heavily towards a dogfight. Throw in the high stakes of a finals spot being on the line, too, and the attractiveness of the Waratahs and Brumbies showdown on Friday in Sydney might be expected to have all the beauty of a blobfish.

But NSW coach Dan McKellar says he believes the clash will buck the trend, and has duly backed the same players who thumped the Fijian Drua 50-35 in Suva at the weekend to do the job, with the same attacking mindset.

For the first time this season, McKellar named an unchanged starting side to meet the Brumbies after the Tahs scored six tries in their first win over the Drua in Fiji.

Some players were unavailable – including Wallabies pair Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (hamstring) and Jake Gordon (illness) – but McKellar said the starting side, including halves pairing Teddy Wilson and Jack Bowen, had all earned another run.

“It all comes down to performance,” McKellar said.

“A lot of guys who got an opportunity in Suva have had to be really patient and chip away, play Shute Shield, train in the non-23 group. And then when you give players an opportunity, you just want them to take it – and I thought a number of guys did that.”

Suaalii was a late withdrawal in Suva with hamstring tightness, and caution had been applied this week given the lengthy travel and short turnaround.

“If it’s a grand final, you probably roll him out,” McKellar said.

McKellar said NSW’s performance against the Drua was a continuation of the momentum created in the second half of the Tahs’ loss to the Highlanders a week earlier, where they rallied from an early deficit. The attacking mindset was also a far cry from their dour defeat against the Western Force in a Sydney a week before that, which was a dreadful spectacle.

“Against the Force we had a really conservative mindset. I don’t know why, we just played within ourselves. And we’re pretty disappointed about that. Because that’s certainly not what we want to be,” McKellar said.

“We’re not trying to play like Fiji or anyone like that. But we certainly want to use the ball and get the ball in the hands of the strike weapons that we’ve got. The pleasing part over the last couple of weeks is our outside backs – Max Jorgensen, Sid Harvey, Harry Potter – are getting regular touches. And if that’s the case, then normally you’re playing a good style of rugby.”

Having prevailed 30-28 in round seven in Canberra, the Waratahs are looking to beat the Brumbies twice in a season for the first time since 2015. However unpalatable that would be to the ACT side – particularly in Allan Alaalatoa’s 150th game – the big prize on offer for both sides is survival in the race for a top six.

With two rounds left, the Brumbies (29 points), Reds (28) and Waratahs (26) sit in fifth, sixth and seventh place on the ladder. Given the Reds play the bottom-two sides in Moana and Fiji, it’s reasonable to say the Tahs (who play the Brumbies and Force) have to win to stay alive. The Brumbies can secure a playoffs spot with a win.

But despite the stakes, McKellar says he wants his side to maintain an attacking mindset, and believes the Brumbies will think the same.

“We’re in the business of winning and what’s required to win and perform, we’ll do it,” he said. “But I don’t think either team wants to go out there and play 10-man rugby and think they’ll win this game 9-6. That’s not going to happen.

“Both teams have got strike weapons and speed and skill across the park. I’d suggest it won’t be like an old Reds-Tahs game back in the ’90s or early 2000s, where at times it’s hard to watch.”

The Waratahs hooker who outran a Fiji winger … and now faces a big call

Waratahs hooker Ioane Moananu thrives in rugby’s tightest spaces. His role primarily involves short carries into a wall of opposition bodies, grinding a scrum forward or popping up at the back of a maul to muscle over for a try.

After 43 minutes of Saturday’s win over the Fijian Drua, Moananu tore up his job description. Receiving the ball over 25 metres out, the 25-year-old outsprinted Fiji Test winger Manasa Mataele to score. It was his fifth try in six games for NSW, but Moananu is still wondering how he made it to the line.

“You don’t usually see a front-rower in open space like that, but my whole focus was, ‘I need to get to this tryline’,” Moananu said.

“I heard [Waratahs halfback] Teddy Wilson calling for it, and I was like, ‘I’m not passing this to Teddy. I need to get to the tryline or I’m getting cooked during the week by the coaches’. But fortunately enough, I got to the try line.

“That’s the furthest I think I’ve run to score a try. Most of them are from mauls, or from five metres with a pick-and-go…

“I probably credit most of my tries to the forwards. I’m just sitting behind them. I get the credit, but those boys are the ones that are doing all the hard work and are the brains behind it.”

Moananu’s two tries against the Drua have made him the Waratahs’ third-highest try scorer, behind Max Jorgensen (7) and Sid Harvey (6), but his main concern right now is his status as one of the last professional hookers left standing in NSW.

Ethan Dobbins is out for the rest of the season with a foot injury and his former flatmate Folau Fainga’a is still managing a knee complaint. Moananu was wearing a knee brace on his left leg on Tuesday, but it’s considered precautionary and he should be fit to play against the Brumbies this Friday.

Two weeks ago, the former Crusader was getting ready to line up in the Shute Shield with Western Sydney Two Blues – but due to the injury curse afflicting NSW hookers, he’s currently the Waratahs’ first choice.

Moananu, an extremely popular member of the Tahs squad, is also out of contract next season. The New Zealander is open to staying beyond his current one-year deal but must also weigh up family commitments, with his partner still living in Auckland.

“I’ve loved my time at the Waratahs,” Moananu said. “I’ve enjoyed being here in Sydney and being around the boys. These boys have really made the Waratahs feel like home for me and they’ve accepted me.

“I’m at that point where now I’m renegotiating, so I’m just having talks at the moment with my agent and seeing where that goes, seeing what’s best for me and my family as well back in New Zealand.

“I’ve got my partner back at home and doing long-distance is so hard. I’ve also got my family back home as well, and family is real important to me, so that decision will be mostly based around what’s best for my family and me.”

Ahead of the Brumbies clash on Friday in Sydney, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has recovered from a tight hamstring that kept him out of the win against the Drua and is set for selection.

Suaalii’s return will present a selection headache for Waratahs coach Dan McKellar, with out-of-contract Triston Reilly impressing as an outside centre against the Drua, his usual position for his club Randwick.

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