RUGBY-SUPER-CRUSADERS
WARATAHS BETWEEN CRUSADERS AND 11 WINS ON THE TROT
Christchurch, May 10, NZPA - The Waratahs will almost certainly be without tearaway test flanker Phil Waugh in their bid to stop a Crusaders' clean sweep in tomorrow night's top-of-the-table Super 12 rugby clash at Jade Stadium.
Waugh, 22, has been battling an ankle injury which kept him out of Waratahs' loss to the Queensland Reds last week.
He ran on his own at the Waratahs' final practice at Jade Stadium today and coach Bob Dwyer was ``pretty well certain'' Waugh would not play.
``If it was a semifinal we'd probably have pushed him a bit faster and he probably would have played,'' Dwyer said.
``Hopefully we've got two more games after this.''
The Waratahs have qualified for the Super 12 play-offs for the first time and are almost certain to host a semifinal at Sydney's Aussie Stadium next Saturday.
The likely change to the Waratahs' back-row robs the 36,000 capacity crowd of a much-anticipated individual duel between Waugh and All Black flanker Richard McCaw.
Waugh and McCaw are two of the world's outstanding openside flankers.
The pair have only met once before -- in the second-half of a pre-season clash in Blenheim in February.
Dwyer has another top trooper to call on. Former Wellington and New Zealand Universities flanker Des Tuiavii, a stand-out with Southland in last year's NPC, is the replacement No 7.
Both squads are rotating players tomorrow. The Waratahs have made six changes to their starting 15 and the Crusaders have made five.
The Crusaders have no late injury worries, with winger Marika Vunibaka surviving today's training after coming off early with a toe injury during last week's match.
Coach Robbie Deans said Vunibaka ran freely at training.
The Crusaders have talked openly this week of striving for an unprecedented 11 wins from 11 games (crct) in the round-robin.
Dwyer, perhaps the most experienced coach in the competition, acknowledged it would be ``a phenomenal effort'' if the Crusaders could complete the clean sweep tomorrow.
But Deans said the record attempt was overly emphasised in the Crusaders camp.
``It's obviously just an essential by-product of a good performance. That's what we are concentrating on, continuing to take a pride in our own game. That's what's going to serve us best,'' he said.
Deans said it was important for the Crusaders to go into the semifinals with a good performance to bolster confidence.
``The campaign's gone really quickly. For some teams it will be the end of the campaign this week, but it certainly doesn't feel like that for us.
``We're looking forward to playing in front of a capacity crowd at Jade. It's good to be back here (after three away games).''
Dwyer is also seeking a good dress rehearsal before the play-offs.
``We're the new kids on the block in the semifinals. We're really looking for credibility and for people to say, 'yeah, they really are a good side'.''
``We need to do well here in order to achieve that.''
Crusaders: Leon MacDonald, Marika Vunibaka, Nathan Mauger, Caleb Ralph, Aaron Mauger, Andrew Mehrtens, Justin Marshall,
Scott Robertson, Richard McCaw, Norm Maxwell, Chris Jack, Reuben Thorne (captain), Greg Somerville, Mark Hammett, Greg Feek. Reserves: Ben Blair, Daryl Gibson, Ben Hurst, Johnny Leo'o, Bradley Mika, David Hewett, Corey Flynn.
Waratahs (likely): Mat Rogers, Scott Staniforth, Matt Burke (captain), Francis Cullimore, Sam Harris, Manuel Edmonds, Chris Whitaker, David Lyons, Des Tuiavii, Tom Bowman, Jono West, Jone Tawake, Patricio Noriega, Huia Edmonds, Matt Dunning. Reserves: Marc Stcherbina, Duncan McRae, Tim Clark, Steve Talbot, Van Humphries, Matt Bowman, Brendan Cannon.
