NSW concede they need a major revamp of their starting line-up and playing style if they are to match the might of Super Rugby’s South African powerhouse the Bulls on Friday night.
The Waratahs’ finals hopes go on the line in a brutal three-game stretch, starting with the Allianz Stadium clash with the front-running Bulls this weekend before a two-match trip to South Africa.
And they’re ready to ring in the changes following last weekend’s miserable 23-6 loss to the Brumbies – with a new centre combination headlining a host of changes that will also affect the forwards and halves.
Five-eighth Berrick Barnes admitted coach Michael Foley had no choice but to try something different against the Bulls, who have cruised to the top of the South African conference.
“Look, we’ve got to change something because what we’ve been doing hasn’t really been coming to fruition,” Barnes said on Tuesday.
“It’s a pretty paramount game considering we’re going into Africa and everyone knows how hard it is to win over there.
“… We’re gonna have more changes this weekend.
“There will be changes in the forward pack, there will be changes in the backs and we’ve got to somehow come up with what we can do there and put in a better performance.”
In the team expected to be named on Wednesday, the Waratahs are set to name Rob Horne and Adam Ashley-Cooper as the new centre pairing, while marquee player Sarel Pretorius is expected to dislodge Brendan McKibbon from the starting halfback role.
Horne has missed the past two matches while serving a suspension for a lifting tackle on Kurtley Beale.
Flankers Rocky Elsom, who has played the past three matches off the bench as he attempts to regain fitness following a hamstring injury, and Chris Alcock are in line to move into the starting forward pack.
The drastic shake-up of the team mid-season is designed to have an immediate impact on the Waratahs, who are third in the Australian conference, nine points behind the Brumbies.
Assistant coach Allan Gaffney hoped the changes, in particular the new centres, would specifically counter the Bulls’ expansive style this year.
“We’re looking for a bit of go-forward,” Gaffney said.
“You’ve got to be direct with the Bulls. You can’t try and run around them and you can’t try and play them through the forwards where their strength is.
“We think we know how to play them (but) we thought we knew how to play the Brumbies.”
The inclusion of Ashley-Cooper at inside centre will help Barnes direct the attack and while Gaffney said they needed to limit their errors, it shouldn’t come at the expense of attacking instincts.
“We can’t sit on our haunches against the Bulls and think it’s going to happen. It’s not going to happen,” he said.
“We’ve got to play and we’ve got to be accurate. That’s the one thing we’re not at the present time.
“… (But) we can’t go through a game and play with gay abandon.
“We do want to get the ball wide and we want to be expansive, but there’s a time to do that and a time not to do that.”