Nick Phipps says Waratahs focused on ‘impossible task’ of winning Super Rugby title after storming into top two

THERE was no toning down or massaging of words from Waratahs halfback Nick Phipps after NSW stormed to second on the Super Rugby ladder.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 23: Nick Phipps of the Waratahs passes the ball during the round 15 Super Rugby match between the Rebels and the Waratahs at AAMI Park on May 23, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

THERE was no toning down or massaging of words from Waratahs halfback Nick Phipps after NSW stormed to second on the Super Rugby ladder.

“We’re all on the same page, we all want to do that impossible task before us of winning the title,” Phipps said.

Impossible now looks achievable.

After an astonishing series of round 15 results that saw the Brumbies drop from second to seventh, and the Chiefs from third to eighth, it was NSW who emerged as the big movers towards the finals.

The Waratahs capped a remarkable past month in which they’ve won all three games and scored 16 tries to move into the top two and take a stranglehold of the Australian conference.

With a game in hand over the first-placed Sharks, one more bonus-point win would lift NSW to the top of the table.

“There have been a lot of battles we’ve had to overcome, but we’re all enjoying it and staying tight together,” Phipps said.

“I’m just loving playing with the boys at the moment.”

Nick Phipps takes on the Rebels defence at AAMI Park.

But what lies next is the ultimate challenge; playing the defending champion Chiefs in their backyard on Saturday.

After suffering a humiliating 45-8 defeat to the Hurricanes last Saturday, the Chiefs will be seething and desperate to make amends, while also recognising that another loss could derail their finals plans.

“The game’s in New Plymouth, it’s rugby heaven down there, the crowd is going to be rabid,” Phipps said.

“It will be a massive game, but we’re up for that.

“It’s all fine getting the wins when you should be getting the wins, but for us now it’s about keeping that consistency. We want to win those tight games, edge teams out, keep getting points on the ladder and moving up towards the end of the year.”

Surprise contenders Western Force have leapt to fourth after their eighth win of the season, relegating the Brumbies to third in the Australian conference.

As NSW coach Michael Cheika identified at the start of the season, a top-two finish is a must, given no Australian or South African team has won the title from further back.

Phipps is a solid reflection of the Tahs as a whole, starting the season well, dipping in the middle rounds, and then showing season-best form in the past month and particularly last Friday against his former club Melbourne.

Both Phipps and halves partner Bernard Foley, close friends from childhood, have been chosen in the Wallabies squad and are beginning to show signs of a potential premiership-winning duo.

Phipps left Melbourne at the end of last year while Foley agreed to join the Rebels, only to renege and remain with NSW, and the duo punished the home side in Melbourne in the 41-19 win.

“Midway through last year we were talking about playing together again, we’ve had so much fun playing together in colts, grade, and sevens together,” Phipps said.

“We get on like a house on fire as well. We’re always into each other at home, always into each other at training, talking about little things and what we can change, what we’ve got to work hard on.

“That’s really driving both our games, you can see the way he’s playing, it’s unbelievable.

“I’ve just been concentrating on my delivery, I know if I can hit him he’s going to make magic happen, or someone outside him will.

“We’ve been given a lot of responsibility to run the team and together we’re enjoying working hard.”

While Will Genia and Nic White have been Australia’s top two halfback choices in the past year, Phipps is making a compelling case.

“The first thing Link (Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie) said to me last year when we first met was that it’s all about form,” Phipps said.

“Being down at the Rebels, there wasn’t a lot of form there.

“Now being in that squad, in a group of three halfbacks, it gives me an opportunity to keep chipping away and hopefully playing well.

“When we get into camp I’ll hopefully let my performances do the talking.

“I don’t want to be one of those blokes who come out saying ‘I am doing this, I want to do that’. I just want to let my performances do the talking, and with the combinations I’m building with Bernard and KB (Kurtley Beale) and a few of the other guys in the squad, hopefully that will help me out coming into the series.

“I’m enjoying playing as a part of the team, I’m really enjoying being back in Sydney, enjoying being close to friends, family, and the blokes in this team as well.

“But Willie and Whitey have been going well so you never really know what the selections will bring.”

WARATAHS (after 15 rounds)

Australian conference: 1st

Overall standing: 2nd

Points differential: 1st (+103)

Tries scored: 2nd (37)

Four-try bonus points: 1st (6)

Attack: 4th (331 points)

Defence: 1st (228 points conceded)

Tries conceded: 2nd (20)

PAST MONTH

SHARKS (1st)

Four games

Three wins

No four-try bonus points

Six tries and 95 points scored

Five tries and 78 points conceded.

WARATAHS (2nd)

Three games

Three wins

Three four-try bonus points

16 tries and 121 points scored

Five tries and 62 conceded.

CRUSADERS (3rd)

Four games

Three wins

Two four-try bonus points

12 tries and 154 points scored

13 tries and 109 points conceded.

Originally published as Nick Phipps says Waratahs focused on ‘impossible task’ of winning Super Rugby title after storming into top two