Waratahs chief Daryl Gibson has experience of how the Crusaders respond to hometown tragedy

As a former Crusaders player and assistant coach, Waratahs boss Daryl Gibson knows exactly how the New Zealanders will respond to last week’s terror attacks when they get back on the field.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 15: Folau Fainga'a of the Brumbies scores a try during the round five Super Rugby match between the Brumbies and the Waratahs at GIO Stadium on March 15, 2019 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

If the Waratahs want an insight into the mindset of the Crusaders in the wake of last week’s terror attacks in Christchurch, they only have to ask their own coach.

As a former Crusaders player and assistant coach, Daryl Gibson has the inside running on how the New Zealanders will respond and his message to the Waratahs is not to expect anything different from the defending champions.

“Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of emotion flying around, it's a huge tragedy that's occurred in Christchurch and how the players and the people of Christchurch and New Zealand are dealing with that,” Gibson said.

“But once the whistle goes I'm sure it'll be back to business for them."

Gibson has dad first-hand experience of how the Crusaders deal with a major disaster as he was working as assistant coach with the team when Christchurch was hit by a massive earthquake in 2011, which killed 185 people.

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Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson expects the visiting Crusaders to be “playing full of purpose” in Sydney at the weekend.

By coincidence, the Crusaders’ next Super Rugby match was against the Waratahs and while the players had been deeply impacted by the events in their home city, once the game started they responded by posting a 33-18 win and Gibson said he expected the same steely resolve at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday night.

“I think you’ll see the team really going out and playing full of purpose,” said.

"Being a former Crusader, being a Crusaders coach, it's the game I look forward to the most out of everything in the calendar.

"We know what we're in for and being on the other side of that and making sure our team's well prepared for this contest is a real challenge.”

The Crusaders responded with a 33-18 win against the Waratahs in their first game after Christchurch was hit by a massive earthquake in 2011, which killed 185 people.

The Waratahs haven’t beaten the Crusaders since 2015 and blew a golden opportunity to end their losing streak last year.

NSW raced to a 29-0 within the first half hour but failed to score again as the Crusaders charged home to pip the visitors 31-29 as part of an unbeaten run against all teams which now stretches over a year.

“The Crusaders have set the benchmark,” Gibson said. “So I can’t see that changing.

“We need to play for the full 80 minutes, we took a lot out of that game we put a lot of pressure on them for the first 50 minutes but weren’t able to sustain that consistent effort.

“So this year we know that we need to do that for the full 80 and really be at our very best to compete in this game.”

Originally published as Waratahs chief Daryl Gibson has experience of how the Crusaders respond to hometown tragedy