The referee is Marius van der Westhuizen which by my count is the third time the Tahs have had him as the referee in seven games.
Nice of the Hurricanes to leave Julian Savea out altogether.
Taqele had a very good moment against the Cru. He is wont to do so every now and then. But then he reverts to his lumbering, poorly positioned self, unable to turn quickly against the ball put in behind him, and everyone spends a couple of games complaining about his shortcomings. I expect something similar will begin to emerge if he starts against the Canes on the weekend.
^^^^
No doubt Gibson thinks he is the next best option, obviously
Why bother with Hegarty on the bench if he wasn't deemed good enough to start last week?
I doubt positional cover is the driver for this selection. there is plenty of cover with Simone/Kellaway on the bench.
Seems to me,he has lost faith in Simone.
It's hard to suggest Hegarty played his way back into the match day squad,with his performance for Norths last week.
Tom Robertson out injured. The Waratahs list him as being out with a knock. Not sure if that is a head knock or some other injury he suffered during the game as he did pass his concussion test.
Is Hegarty considered as the back up goal kicker if Foley comes off? Who else kicks in the absence of RR?
If Gibson isn't expecting the big unit to play 80, he is a fool to select him.I'd guess that Gibson isn't expecting Naiyaravoro to play 80, nor one of Horne and Horwitz.
If there are no injuries I expect Kellaway will end up on the wing, Folau in the centres and Hegarty at fullback.
Hegarty is the injury replacement for Foley but I think his planned game time will be at 15 which is why he made the bench over Simone.
I'd like to see Simone get another go. I'm not trying to argue that Hegarty should have been chosen over him, just why I think he has been.