After holding their season alive with a dramatic 91st-minute winner towards the Western Force final weekend, the NSW Waratahs have turned their focus to a semi-final-like conflict with the Blues at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday.
Darby Lancaster was the hero for the Tahs final trip towards the Pressure, with the winger pulling off a spectacular somersault end to steal the much-needed win 22-17 with the final play of the match in Tremendous Level.
It was an unimaginable end to an enthralling battle between two Australian rivals, with that rating holding New South Wales’ hopes of taking part in finals soccer in Super Rugby Pacific alive for at the least one other week.
The equation is quite simple for the eighth-placed Waratahs, who firstly need to make history by beating defending champions the Blues at Eden Park. If the New South Welshmen are successful, they’ll make the playoffs if the Hurricanes beat Moana Pasifika.
“This week is our semi-final … to go over there and treat it as a semi-final and earn another week [in the competition] is admittedly thrilling,” fly-half Jack Bowen advised reporters on Tuesday.
“Going over there and doing one thing {that a} Waratahs facet hasn’t carried out for a decade is one thing that’s actually thrilling.
“It’s an enormous recreation for each side, and outdoors these partitions most likely nobody is anticipating us to go over there and get it carried out.
“That takes the stress off us and eases us up a little bit, nevertheless it’s a large problem we’re going to be up for, and we now have to go over and beat them.
“They are not going to beat themselves. We have to go and attack them.
“A massive thing is the mindset, going over there and genuinely believing we can win.
“We genuinely have the belief this week that we can go over there and beat them.”
When the Waratahs beat the ladder-leading Chiefs at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on April 11, they appeared like a group greater than able to making the highest six. However losses away to the Fijian Drua and ACT Brumbies adopted, then back-to-back defeats to the Reds and Crusaders at dwelling.
The Tahs have solely gained two of their final eight, these being the overcome the Chiefs and the golden level thriller away to the Pressure, however stay within the race for playoff qualification. However the problem that awaits is, traditionally, an extremely powerful matchup.
Earlier than the season began, the Blues have been extensively tipped as early favourites to defend their Tremendous Rugby crown, having added All Blacks centurion Beauden Barrett to an already gifted squad below coach Vern Cotter.
However with solely 5 wins from 13 begins, the Blues sit simply outdoors of the playoff image, however might very nicely change that this weekend. For the Tahs, who’re chasing the identical prime six prize, how they comprise Barrett is “the million-dollar query.”
“Within the again discipline, we’re going to should be on our cash and ensure he performs off gradual ball,” Bowen added.
“In any other case, when he has fast ball and taking part in on prime of groups, he could make you appear to be a idiot.
“For us, it’s going to start out up entrance and being actually bodily to attempt to gradual his ball down so that he’s taking part in off static ball and we will actually go after him.”
