NSW Waratahs to tap into Daryl Gibson’s knowledge of Crusaders in preparation for final

NICK Phipps says the Waratahs will use their “mole” to gain inside knowledge about the Crusaders ahead of Saturday’s Super Rugby grand final.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 26: Bernard Foley (C) of the Waratahs celebrates with Kurtley Beale (L) and Alofa Alofa (R) after scoring a try during the Super Rugby Semi Final match between the Waratahs and the Brumbies at Allianz Stadium on July 26, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

NICK Phipps says the Waratahs will use their “mole” to gain inside knowledge about the Crusaders as they prepare for Saturday’s Super Rugby grand final at ANZ Stadium.

The Waratahs haven’t played the star-studded Crusaders this season, but in former All Black Daryl Gibson they have the perfect informant.

Michael Cheika’s assistant coach spent six years playing for the Christchurch club from 1996 to 2002, a period that saw them claim four titles.

“He’s our mole,” Phipps said.

“He’s very good and he knows the New Zealand teams inside out, so he’ll have a lot of detail. He’s been there, done that and he’s played all those games. He’ll have a lot to say during the week and I guess so will Cheik. It’s good for us to have that inside knowledge, to know what style they’re going to play.”

The Waratahs have previously reached two Super Rugby finals but fell to the Crusaders, the competition’s most successful team, on both occasions.

For the first time they will play the decider in front of their home fans, but Phipps knows there is hard work ahead.

“Cheik made no hesitations that he wanted to do the hard road and so far we’ve done that,” Phipps said.

“Being able to play the Crusaders, who we haven’t played this year, is great for the club and if we stick to our style and get the win then we can honestly just sit back and say we went the hardest route possible and we’ve done the very best we can.

“They’re a great team and they’re going to be tough. They’ve got finals experience across the board with All Blacks everywhere, so we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Phipps picked up the players’ player award during the Waratahs tough 26-8 semi-final win over the Brumbies.

The heroic halfback pulled off crucial cover tackles on Tevita Kuridrani and Scott Fardy, leading Cheika to describe his work rate as “phenomenal”.

But a modest Phipps put his effort down to the instructions of defensive coach and former Waratah Nathan Grey.

“He’s brought that hard steel,” Phipps said.

“We all grew up watching Grey play when we were younger, so we know he’s got that absolutely uncompromising style of rugby and we love that - it really filters through to the rest of the players. Him and Daryl Gibson have been amazing, supporting Cheik and the work that they do. When we reflect at the end of this campaign they should get big credit for that.”

Phipps says the Waratahs are in for an “epic week”. The players will have to brush off any niggles picked up during Saturday’s nights brutal battle and be ready to put in one final, and decisive, defensive effort against the seven-time Super Rugby champions.

“It’s good that we were able to weather that storm, but we know there’s going to be an even bigger storm coming,” he said.

“Since I started playing Super Rugby I’ve never had the opportunity to have a crack at the final, or even finals. It’s a great feeling, but also as a team we’ve made it very clear that the semi-final win is awesome, but no one really remembers second place.”

Originally published as NSW Waratahs to tap into Daryl Gibson’s knowledge of Crusaders in preparation for final