Waratahs coach wants to ‘pick and stick’. But the Brumbies may snare one of his key playmakers

Dan McKellar says finding stability in the No.10 position will be a future priority as the Waratahs prepare for a must-win clash in Auckland with another new starting five-eighth - and increasing speculation a Wallaby playmaker is set to be poached by a major rival.

The Waratahs will take on the Blues on Saturday night in a game they must win to have any hope of qualifying for the playoffs.

McKellar opted to roll the dice and start Jack Bowen in the Waratahs’ No.10 shirt for the first time this season, rewarding the 21-year-old for a key cameo off the bench last weekend in the Tahs’ dramatic golden-point win over the Western Force.

Bowen’s last start was in the final round of last season, and he has had limited opportunity this season, with seven games off the bench. But with Jake Gordon out with a hamstring niggle, Bowen will combine with his Easts and Junior Wallabies halves partner Teddy Wilson at Eden Park, and get a chance to impress McKellar.

The opportunity may carry more weight, too, if the Brumbies are successful in luring teammate Tane Edmed to Canberra for next year. Edmed, who has shared the starting role with Lawson Creighton this season and is on the bench behind Bowen, has been courted by Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham to replace Noah Lolesio.

Larkham has met with Edmed, and informed sources say the Brumbies are confident they will get their man, which would leave only Bowen, Creighton and Junior Wallaby Joey Fowler, on the Tahs’ books. The Waratahs have been canvassing options in the overseas market for an experienced five-eighth as a contingency measure, according to informed sources.

Jack Bowen (right) celebrating a Waratahs win.Credit: Getty Images

If Edmed departs, the Tahs will have lost all three of the young guns who came through together in 2019-2020, along with Ben Donaldson and Will Harrison, and continue the steady merry-go-round of players used in the role.

Since Bernard Foley departed at the end of the 2019 season, the Waratahs have cycled through five No.10s - Harrison, Donaldson, Edmed, Bowen and Creighton - and changed the starting pivot on 13 occasions. And multiple starting combinations have also been fielded with five halfbacks: Gordon, Mitch Short, Jack Grant, Harrison Goddard and Wilson.

McKellar said consistency in the halves and other key positions is a future priority.

“If you look at the teams at the top of the table that have had consistency, and you look at currently the best team in Australia, and that’s the Brumbies, the consistency they’ve had there in key positions across a number of years,” McKellar said.

“That cohesion theory that Benny Darwin talks about, it’s 100 per cent right. Obviously, here we’re in our first season as a group and trying to work out what’s our best fit and who’s the best fit for not only 10 but a number of different positions.”

McKellar said he was comfortable with the stable of playmakers he had at the Tahs, and said a new attack system under Mike Catt’s coaching would take time to grow wings.

“There’s a new style of play this year and our attacks are a work in progress,” McKellar said. “All areas of our game are, but the attack is probably the one that takes the longest. If you talk to ‘Catty’, it goes back to his first year at Ireland, and they had similar experiences there, so it takes time, but we’re comfortable with the 10s.”

McKellar said he wanted to reward Bowen for his impressive training form all season, which he put on the field against the Force.

“I’m pleased with how Bowie’s performed there, and he gets a chance this week in a big game. We’ve got Tane and his experience to come on in the back end,” he said.

McKellar said the Tahs were embracing their underdog status ahead of a game no one expects them to win. But having seen the Brumbies break a 12-year hoodoo to win at Eden Park earlier this year, the Tahs are confident they know what it takes to win.

“Places like Eden Park, you need to be in it with 20 minutes to go, and don’t let them get off to a fast start and blow you away,” he said.

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