Nick Phipps says Waratahs will ‘prove Force wrong’

IT was the verbal bait by Western Force skipper Matt Hodgson that has the Waratahs all fired up for their revenge mission in Perth on Saturday.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 25: Nick Phipps of the Waratahs runs with the ball during the round 11 Super Rugby match between the Waratahs and the Rebels at ANZ Stadium on April 25, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

IT was the verbal bait by Western Force skipper Matt Hodgson that has the Waratahs all fired up for their revenge mission in Perth on Saturday.

NSW halfback Nick Phipps has revealed that Hodgson’s description of their last encounter - when the Force stunned the Tahs to win 25-13 in round one - has been well and truly noted by his side.

Hodgson said of the first-round win earlier this week: “It was all about aggression and attitude. We took it to the Waratahs and they didn’t like it.”

Phipps responded: “Hodgo was talking the other day about how they took the physicality to us, they slowed our ball down at the breakdown.

“They’re all things that they’re entitled to have their opinion about, but coming into the game this weekend, we know the way we’re going to go about how we play.

“It will be classic game again; us wanting to run the ball, and them playing a very territory-based game.”

The Waratahs forwards in particular are keen to atone for meek performances against the Force in their past two clashes, with coach Michael Cheika reinforcing the need for a hardened attitude this week.

“A lot has been spoken about, and Cheik has made it pretty clear and brought up a few things about the two previous games about how important this game is for us,” Phipps said.

“There’s a heightened sense for us, because we know they could easily put three [wins] in a row on top of us.

“We’ve got to be playing at our best this weekend.”

Phipps described the round one defeat to the Force as “a wake-up call”. Since then NSW has won seven out of nine games, while the Force have lost 10 in a row.

“They definitely were targeting that first game of the season, we were targeting the whole season, we didn’t turn up on the day,” Phipps said.

“That round one was a bit of a wake-up call, a few of the senior players have spoken about it, we’ve addressed it since then.

“But in saying that, they beat us over there this time last year as well, so they’ve definitely got the rub on us at the moment.

“They think they’ve got the blueprint to beat us, and we’ve just got to prove them wrong this weekend.”

Originally published as Nick Phipps says Waratahs will ‘prove Force wrong’