Listen carefully ‘cos I have to speak quietly. I don’t want that bloody Daryl Gibson using my match preview as motivation for the Waratahs again. The nerve of the guy, he’s given no credit to me at all, not even a nod to acknowledge that my words “may have” provided the stinging motivation required for their recent improvement in form, but we know the truth. Like my mate Donald Trump says, this so-called Tah revival is all #fakenews. (Trump isn’t really my mate but mentioning him is good for search rankings on Google, so fair game. At this point I’d like to welcome our American readers to the best Rugby website on the planet.)
Fresh from an excellent win over the Highlanders, the Waratahs travel to the tourist hub of Hamilton in the Waikato on New Zealand’s North Island. The Hamilton locals are frequently derided as living in New Zealand’s most boring city but I can verify that FMG Stadium is a fine venue for watching the exciting brand of Rugby favoured by both the Chiefs and our magnificent Tahs. Weather and available Chiefs personnel permitting, we may well witness an exhibition of exciting, running Rugby.
Why should I bother?
“Y’all hit hard, we hit harder” – Chiefs’ tagline in advertising for this clash.
As my mate Trump would say, “Nobody knows how hard we will hit”. Daryl Gibson will have the tenacious Tahs tighties salivating at the prospect of proving their recent efforts are no flash in the pan and they will certainly need to stand up and make a difference as they face possibly the best forward in the world in Chiefs lock Brodie Retallick. Expect sparks to fly and some blood to flow.
The Tahs have a fair record against the Chiefs in recent years and their opponents have returned from South Africa a bit sore and sorry. Waratahs coach Gibson will be instructing playmakers Foley and Beale to exit quickly and introduce some width when in the right positions on the field. The Chiefs flyhalf McKenzie loves the running game but given the Chiefs’ horrendous injury toll, coach Colin Cooper may instruct him to be a little more circumspect and possibly unleash his long kicking game and play the percentages more than McKenzie might like.
Key match ups
Foley v McKenzie
Damian McKenzie’s transition to flyhalf has been interesting. He runs less often than he did as a 15 but still makes breaks about once in every eight runs he makes; his ability to slither out of tackles or free his arms to slip a pass to a support terrifies opposing defensive coaches . He kicks more often at 10 than he did as a 15 (understandably) but the vision he has displayed with his risk/reward style of passing has been exciting/terrifying to watch. Contrast his approach with the more conservative and structured approach taken by Bernard Foley who will seek field position first and foremost but is also dangerously deceptive on the occasions he chooses to run.
“Lurch” Retallick v the Tenancious Tahs Tighties
Well, not quite, but there’s no doubt the Chiefs are deep into their roster following a horror run of injuries. I understand there are currently 11 players active now who were not in the Chiefs squad at the start of the season. If ever there was a time for the senior Chiefs to show the way this is it. Retallick will be looking to young Mitch Karpik to fiercely contest the breakdown in the absence of Sam Cane. The Chiefs will be boosted by the news that a number of their squad have been added to the initial All Blacks squad, including young prop Karl Tu’inukuafe, a virtual unknown a few months ago. He will no doubt see his match-up against Sekope Kepu as an opportunity to press his claims to continue in the All Blacks squads.
The game plans
The game plans of both teams will be influenced by the weather, currently predicted to be possibly a bit dodgy. I believe the Chiefs perform at their best in a short passing, close support in depth game but Colin Cooper appears to allow Damian McKenzie free reign to go wide early. This could challenge the Tahs outside defenders, in particular Taqele Naiyaravoro, to make good decisions and to stay connected to the rest of the defensive line.
The Tahs will no doubt send some heavy artillery towards Damian McKenzie but he is a pretty good defender and so are Ngatai and Lienert-Brown so Foley and Beale will need to carefully consider their options. I’d expect some short kicks in behind early.
Prediction
The Waratahs will secure enough primary possession to allow them to dominate field position and will then unleash their in-form backs in a display of controlled yet attacking Rugby. As Prince Harry was reported as saying last week, he and Meghan Markle chose their wedding date deliberately so they could watch the Tahs dismantle the Chiefs this week uninterrupted by the Royal nuptials (this may or may not be an unabashed ploy to boost search rankings).
Tahs by 14
Match Details
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Chiefs
1. Karl Tu’inukuafe
2. Nathan Harris
3. Angus Ta’avao
4. Brodie Retallick
5. Michael Allardice
6. Luke Jacobson
7. Mitch Karpik
8. Liam Messam
9. Brad Weber
10. Damian McKenzie
11. Sean Wainui
12. Charlie Ngatai
13. Anton Lienert-Brown
14. Toni Pulu
15. Solomon Alaimalo
Reserves:
16. Samisoni Taukei’aho
17. Sam Prattley
18. Jeff Thwaites
19. Jesse Parete
20. Matt Matich
21. Te Toiroa Tauhuriorangi
22. Marty McKenzie
23. Shaun Stevenson
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Waratahs
1. Tom Robertson
2. Damien Fitzpatrick
3. Sekope Kepu
4. Tom Staniforth
5. Rob Simmons
6. Will Miller
7. Michael Hooper (c)
8. Michael Wells
9. Nick Phipps
10. Bernard Foley
11. Taqele Naiyaravoro
12. Kurtley Beale
13. Curtis Rona
14. Cameron Clark
15. Israel Folau
Reserves:
16. Silatolu Latu
17. Harry Johnson-Holmes
18. Paddy Ryan
19. Jed Holloway
20. Brad Wilkin
21. Jake Gordon
22. Lalakai Foketi
23. Bryce Hegarty
[/one_third]
[one_third last=”yes”]
Match Details
Date: Saturday, 26 May 2018
Venue: FMG Stadium Hamilton
Kick-off: 19:35 local, 17:35 AEST
Referee: Glen Jackson
Assistant referees:
Angus Mabey, Cam Stone
TMO: Aaron Paterson
[/one_third]
