Waratahs won’t rest Wallabies stars for derby clashes against Rebels and Brumbies

The Waratahs must win their final three games if they are to make the Super Rugby playoffs but also need to rest their Wallabies stars. Coach Daryl Gibson is going for broke.

Michael Hooper is one of a number of the Waratahs Wallabies stars on track to be rested against the Highlanders. Picture: AAP

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The Waratahs are preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice to give their players the best chance of winning selection in the Wallabies squad for this year’s World Cup, setting the stage for back-to-back blockbusters.

Needing to win their final three matches to have any hope of sneaking into the Super Rugby playoffs, the Waratahs are vowing to stick with a selection policy that effectively puts the national interests ahead of their own.

Under orders to rest key Wallabies before the end of the season, NSW’s best chances of making the semis would be to spread out their rest days to minimise the disruption to the rest of the team.

But with the next two matches against the Melbourne Rebels and ACT Brumbies, Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson has decided to gamble the house on giving his best players their chance to impress the selectors.

Michael Hooper is one of a number of the Waratahs Wallabies stars on track to be rested against the Highlanders. Picture: AAP

“Obviously there’s an opportunity for our boys to have those match ups,” Gibson said.

“The next two games, they’re derby games, they're essentially Australian trials in my eyes.

“These guys are not only playing hard for the Waratahs but they're also putting their hands up for (World Cup) selection so there’s plenty at stake for them and a lot of meaning in the game so I want to give them that opportunity.”

If the Waratahs win those two derbies to keep themselves to remain in the hunt for the playoffs, their final match, away to New Zealand’s Highlanders, will be almost mission impossible because they will have to rest players en masse.

Already without Israel Folau (sacked), Tolu Latu (suspended), Karmichael Hunt (injured) and Jack Dempsey (injured), the Waratahs will also be without Michael Hooper, Bernard Foley, Kurtley Beale, Sekope Kepu and Rob Simmons.

Fullback Kurtley Beale will also be rested. Picture: AAP

“That makes things a bit difficult but we’ll still field a team,” Gibson said.

“There’s plenty of guys who want to play for New South Wales.”

The Waratahs have made just two changes to the starting side that lost to the Jaguares last week for Friday night’s clash away to the Rebels with Curtis Rona replacing Cam Clark on the left wing and Lalakai Foketi taking over from the injured Hunt at inside centre.

Hunt’s chances of making the World Cup squad are all but over with the dual international looking at three months on the sideline after tearing a medial ligament but Gibson hopes to re-sign him for 2020.

“We’re certainly having those discussions, whether we can get to the money that he’s after is another question,” he said.

Clark has been demoted to the bench just two weeks after he was called into the World Cup train-on squad but Gibson said Rona’s recent performances demanded he be picked.

“We found his form irresistible,” Gibson said. “He’s been a real difference when he has come on, shown a really ability to beat the man and been a real difference so he gets a start.

“Cam is obviously still in the mix. Cam is a really consistent worker, that’s something we’ve come to know about his game and he shows that every week but what we've gone for is something a little bit different in Curtis.”

Originally published as Waratahs won’t rest Wallabies stars for derby clashes against Rebels and Brumbies