A NSW Waratahs side, trying to find the fine balance between aggression and stupidity, have lost Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau for Sunday’s crucial Super Rugby clash with the Australian conference-leading Brumbies.
Polota-Nau suffered a head knock at training this week and Waratahs defence coach Nathan Grey said on Thursday the veteran front-rower had been ruled out of the game.
Tongan-born back-up rake Tolu Latu will get a rare chance to start.
The Waratahs have conceded a tryscoring bonus point in three of their four games and it’s a statistic that rankles defence guru Grey.
“It drives me nuts – I hate it,” said Grey, who considered missed tackles the issue in last week’s loss to the Highlanders, rather than any breakdown in his defensive system.
Grey conceded NSW had to improve their discipline after picking up four yellow cards from as many games.
“You’ve got to get that fine balance between pushing things and trying to be aggressive and being stupid,” Grey said.
“We’ve certainly really focused on making sure that we’ve got our attention to detail around the breakdown.”
The Brumbies head into the game with a 10-point lead over the Tahs, who are trying not to get obsessed with ladder positions and must-win scenarios so early in the season.
“Thinking all about that sort of stuff is probably putting a little bit too much pressure on the side,” fullback Israel Folau said.
Folau, who is yet to score a try this season, is relishing the chance to play at outside centre in attack, in the absence of the injured Adam Ashley-Cooper.
“It’s great to get a lot closer to the action and just mixing the attack up, with opportunities to play other guys around me, so I’m really enjoying the role,” Folau said,
Brumbies No.13 Tevita Kuridrani was rated the best centre in Australia, if not the world, by his coach Stephen Larkham earlier this week and Folau has a similarly high opinion of his Wallabies teammate.
“He’s a great player; he’s only a young kid; he’s only going to get a lot better,” Folau said.
“He’s probably one guy that we’ve got to really worry about this week going into the game.
“We’re well aware of how good he is both defensively and in attack.”
Another potential headache for the Tahs is the return from injury of champion openside flanker, David Pocock, who has been named on the Brumbies’ bench.
“Having David to come off the bench and create havoc on the field, it will be a nice string to add to the Brumbies’ bow,” Grey said.
