Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson says ‘we’re letting teams off the hook’
Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson has warned his players they need to cut out the “stupid” mistakes that cost them a first-round win against the Hurricanes if they want to avoid another loss against the Sunwolves this weekend
Rugby
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rugby. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson has warned his players they need to cut out the “stupid” mistakes that cost them a first-round win against the Hurricanes if they want to avoid another loss against the Sunwolves this weekend.
The Waratahs are still kicking themselves after missing a golden opportunity to beat the highly-rated Hurricanes by making a stack of schoolboy errors and Gibson has spent the past few days drilling his players about the importance of maintaining discipline.
“(There were) a number of stupid sort of errors around individuals and we’ve talked extensively this week around those and how we’re building excellent pressure with our defence and we’re letting teams off the hook,” Gibson said.
“We need to be better so that’s one area of the game we’re looking to improve.”
The Waratahs could have beaten the Hurricanes had the normally reliable Bernard Foley landed his last penalty shot but it was the litany of mistakes during the game that was the real reason they came up short.
Gibson described his team’s attack as “clunky” after players repeatedly dropped the ball when in good attacking positions but he resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes, changing only his midfield combination.
Kurtley Beale comes into the side at inside centre, with Karmichael Hunt moving to outside centre while Adam Ashley-Cooper, who needs to pass a concussion test to play after receiving a head knock, was bracketed on the bench with Cam Clark.
“At this early stage of season we’re still searching for those combinations,” Gibson said.
“Part of our thinking process was around keeping the team as stable as possible, trying to build those combinations ae we move into the season.”
The Waratahs’ skipper Michael Hooper thinks the handling errors will quickly disappear once they play more matches under their belt but has also reminded his players they need to improve their discipline after giving up 14 penalties.
“Call them clunky, call them coach killers but we had a few of them on the weekend,” Hooper said. “So we should sharpen those up with another game.”
Waratahs v Sunwolves - Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo on Saturday, 3.15pm AEDT
1 Harry Johnson-Holmes
2 Damien Fitzpatrick
3 Sekope Kepu
4 Jed Holloway
5 Rob Simmons
6 Ned Hanigan
7 Michael Hooper
8 Jack Dempsey
9 Jake Gordon
10 Bernard Foley
11 Curtis Rona
12 Kurtley Beale
13 Karmichael Hunt
14 Alex Newsome
15 Israel Folau
Reserves:
16. Tolu Latu
17. Rory O’Connor
18. Chris Talakai
19. Lachlan Swinton
20. Will Miller
21. Mitch Short
22. Mack Mason
23. Cam Clark/Adam Ashley-Cooper*
Reds primed for Super season
The Reds don’t want to waste their good work on a successful pre-season tour of the United Kingdom when they kick-off their Super Rugby Pacific season later this month.
Two-man showdown for Wallabies job as succession plan revealed
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh has laid out the plan to replace Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt – with two leading candidates emerging amid Waugh’s non-negotiables and the deadline to land Schmidt’s successor.