NSW captain Benn Robinson is expecting the Crusaders to provide the Waratahs powerful scrum with their biggest challenge of the Super Rugby season so far on Sunday when two Test-strength front rows collide at Allianz Stadium.
NSW coach Michael Foley will keep the guessing games going over his starting line-up until match day, with no official announcement of the run-on side to be made until shortly before kick-off.
However, Wallabies playmaker Berrick Barnes, who missed sessions earlier in the week due to sickness, is likely to play after completing training on Friday and Saturday.
Foley said he would look at his combinations overnight, with Barnes in contention to play at five-eighth and fullback.
Relatively-inexperienced wingers Atieli Pakalani and Peter Betham are both poised to play, with Adam Ashley-Cooper tipped to line up at fullback and Tom Kingston at outside centre.
Foley wasn’t stressing about having to win to stay in touch with Australian conference pacesetters, the Brumbies and Queensland Reds, who have already banked five and four points respectively this weekend, or the Waratahs’ lengthy losing streak against the Crusaders.
“As coaches, we tend to talk about the winning streaks rather than anything else but I really don’t think it has any relevance,” Foley said.
“You are aware of the results of the other games but, in the preparation for a game like this, you think about nothing but the game itself.”
Both sides have hit some mid-season form following an indifferent start.
The Crusaders have won four of their past five and the Waratahs their past two.
A titanic battle is anticipated in the front row of the scrum where the all-Wallabies trio of Robinson, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Sekope Kepu will lock horns with the All Blacks combination of Ben and Owen Franks and Corey Flynn.
“Last year, we had some mixed (scrummaging) results against them (the Crusaders) and I think you can look at their performances in weeks gone past and they are putting it over sides,” Robinson said.
“We are up for the challenge – we are excited. I think as a front-rower, they are the challenges that you want to be involved in where you get tested to your most.
“They have got some of the best scrummagers in the world at the moment.”
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder viewed Sunday’s encounter as a critical one in their season.
“I see this as our ultimate test – they’ll test us in ways other teams haven’t,” Blackadder said.
“I think they will try and take us through the middle with a lot of pick-and-goes.”
His forward stocks have been bolstered by the return from injury of superstar flanker and All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, who is scheduled to make his season debut off the bench.
