Waratahs to rest key players against Sunwolves under controversial Wallabies policy
The Wallabies’ rest policy means three of the Waratahs’ leaders are set to be stood down for the clash against the last-placed Sunwolves.
The Waratahs are set to take a huge gamble by resting key stars Michael Hooper, Bernard Foley and Adam Ashley-Cooper for Friday’s match against the last-placed Sunwolves.
Under the Wallabies’ rest policy, Australia’s top Test players are expected to stand down for two Super Rugby games this season, and the game against the Sunwolves in Newcastle presents an ideal opportunity to field some rookies.
However, the Sunwolves, while bottom of the table, are a dangerous team that has narrowly lost a number of games this year, including the one-point defeat to NSW in Tokyo one month ago.
Hooper is the captain of the side while Foley runs the backline and Ashley-Cooper has been an important defensive co-ordinator.
The potential absence of all three will put NSW’s “blue wall” defence to the test against a side renowned for off-the-cuff, attacking rugby stemming from offloads in contact.
After last weekend’s stunning win over the Crusaders, the Tahs have jumped to the top of the Australian conference and risk building on that moment with a reshuffled line-up.
The Wallabies’ rest policy is making it difficult for all Australian Super coaches to rotate their teams while seeking consistent performances.
If the changes go ahead, it will mean the Tahs have not fielded the same backline in successive games so far in 2019.
Under the rest policy to prepare for Australia’s World Cup campaign starting September, the Wallabies’ busiest players - including Hooper and Foley - must stand down for two Super games, while others who play less regular internationals must miss one match.
Neither Hooper nor Foley has missed a match thus far, and with NSW given tough finish to the year they need to get a match off their list quickly.
Michael Wells looms as the natural replacement for Hooper in the backrow alongside Ned Hanigan and Jack Dempsey, while Mack Mason is the back-up option for Foley.
If Ashley-Cooper is also rested, NSW could use a new midfield combination of Kurtley Beale and Karmichael Hunt.
The constant chopping and changing of players is counter-productive to developing set combinations, and winger Cameron Clark said coach Daryl Gibson had given no indication yet as to when the resting would cease to build a settled team for a potential finals run.
“[There] hasn't been much indication about it,” Clark said. “We've got these next two games [against Sunwolves and Blues] leading into a bye so I'm not sure if he'll look to cement a backline post-the bye, so all we can do is put our best performance on the park and hopefully he sticks with us.
“That's the situation we're in with the squad we've got. We've got a lot of great outside backs so a lot of competition for spots, which is always a good thing so I'm sure it's a good headache for Gibbo and the coaching staff to have.
“Unfortunately for us, you're not cemented in the spot all the time. That's what we can do at training, just keep pushing each week and hopefully get a spot on the weekend.”
Wells weighs up big switch
Michael Wells has not yet made a call on whether he’ll stick with XVs or switch back to sevens rugby in a bid to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The 25-year-old is back in the Waratahs team just weeks after representing Australia in the World Series sevens circuit, and admits he’ll need to make a decision on his future soon because it’s too difficult going back and forth between the different sports.
“It’s probably not sustainable flipping,” Wells said. “Credit to the sevens guys, they are genuine athletes and if you’re committed to Tokyo and you want to do the Olympics, it’s probably a matter of getting your feet into the system and giving time.
“It does take a lot of time to adapt to it and respect needs to be paid to the blokes who are playing sevens at the moment. You need time in there to get used to it. At the moment my future is at the Tahs for the rest of the season and I will weigh that up after the season.”
Wells said that gruelling army training transformed him from a traditional XVs back-rower into a versatile sevens player, and plans to bring those added skills back to Super Rugby, having come off the bench last Saturday against the Crusaders and looking to start on Friday against the Sunwolves.
“I think I got nine tackles in 30 minutes (against the Crusaders), I don’t think I made nine tackles in the whole circuit series,” Wells said.
“There’s more contact, tighter quarters, bigger bodies. I’ve gone from being a big body in sevens to being a medium to small body in the forwards in XVs, that’s taken a bit of adjusting to.
“I had a bit of a baptism of fire in sevens. They chucked us on an army camp for a weekend the first week I was there and I think I lost like four or five kilos but luckily I made most of that back so I’m only about one or two kilos difference. It hasn’t changed that much.
“There are stretcher carriers up a mountain, we did some high diving board stuff, there was a lot of trekking and running, not much sleep, not much food. Pretty much getting a real appreciation of how the people who serve our country live and do their day to day job. It’s tough.
“Sevens amplifies your skills. You’ve got the same amount of ground with half of the amount of people. Your one-on-one, tracking, defence, catch-pass – everything is amplified so I’ve had more exposure there. Hopefully I can bring that back.”
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