Daryl Gibson to make NSW Waratahs return from holidays to watch Super Rugby final
HOLIDAY plans have been ruined for the lacklustre Waratahs, who will be forced to return to HQ in a fortnight to watch a game most players wanted to avoid.
THE woeful Waratahs will be hauled back to head office in a fortnight and be forced to watch the Super Rugby final together.
NSW coach Daryl Gibson has revealed that he’ll make his players endure the spectacle to see the level they must reach next year, after one of their worst seasons on record in 2017.
If players were planning month-long debriefs on the beaches of Bali during their annual leave period they got a rude shock when Gibson told them of the get-together two weeks after they finished the season with four wins and 11 losses, and the worst defensive statistics in their history.
“We’re planning to get them together in two weeks’ time and to watch the final and see what it is we have to do to transform ourselves and be one of those two teams that are at the final,” Gibson said.
While Gibson has borne the brunt of criticism about his side’s performances this year, he was careful throughout the campaign not to publicly lambaste his players, and that continued again on Monday.
“The first thing is I’m the coach and I’m responsible for the players’ performances,” Gibson said.
“I’d be very loath to criticise the players. Out there, they are performing the game plans and structures that I’ve put in place.
POOR DEFENCE: WARATAHS DEFENSIVE COACH TO CONDUCT EXHAUSTIVE REVIEW
“Certainly from my point of view they’re all out there trying their best, and at times that best isn’t good enough.
“When you have a captain like Michael Hooper, who’s led from the front all season, I don’t see it as an issue.
“Players ebb and flow — their form throughout the season follows that cycle.
“(We’re) distressed, hurting, but that’s all part of the process of restoring ourselves and making sure we restore that pride back in our jersey.
“The sooner we can do that, the better.”
The Tahs are looking for an outside centre to complete a Wallaby-laden backline that will include Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau and Bernard Foley.
Gibson will wait to see the outcome of the ARU’s plans to cut either the Western Force or Melbourne Rebels from Super Rugby.
He could target Bill Meakes and Curtis Rona from the Force if the Perth franchise is axed following an arbitration hearing with the ARU next month.
As for his final message to the group of 2017 after their final match resulted in a 40-11 defeat to the Force, Gibson was adamant there could be no repeat.
“It was more around extracting as much learning from the season that we’ve just experienced, ensuring whatever that learning is, it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
“That’s the type of response you’ve seen before from Waratahs teams. When we’ve been at a low point we’ve come out the following season and really done well.”
Originally published as Daryl Gibson to make NSW Waratahs return from holidays to watch Super Rugby final