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Flailing Waratahs desperate to avoid wooden spoon
NSW Waratahs coach Darren Coleman isn’t sure if he’ll be given the chance to lead next year’s rebuild, but he doesn’t want 2024 to end with a wooden spoon.
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The last-placed Waratahs slumped to a 2-10 record on Saturday night after crashing to a 27-7 Super Rugby Pacific loss to the Western Force in Perth.
The Waratahs led 7-0 after eight minutes, but conceded the next 27 points on the way to another disappointing defeat.
The result was all the more disappointing given it was captain Jake Gordon’s 100-match milestone.
Coleman is about to come out of contract, with his future to be decided during a review at the end of the season.
Given the Waratahs’ dire results this season, Coleman’s three-year reign looks unlikely to continue.
“It’s not great, but that’s the job you take,” Coleman said of the coaching uncertainty.
“People pat you on the back when you’re winning and it’s tough when you’re losing, that’s professional sports.
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“Although I’m not proud of this year’s results at all, I’ve still got a great job.”
With the Waratahs a whopping nine points adrift of eighth spot with only two rounds remaining, Coleman has directed his team’s focus to avoiding the wooden spoon.
The Waratahs (12 points) can leapfrog 11th-placed Moana Pasifika (14 points) when they face off next Saturday.
The 10th-placed Crusaders (15 points) are also within touching distance of the Waratahs.
After taking on Moana away from home, NSW will finish their season hosting the Reds.
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“No-one wants that wooden spoon, so we’ll busting our arse to finish with two more wins and perform better than we did (against the Force),” Coleman said.
Waratahs prop Lewis Ponini is in doubt for the final two matches after limping off against the Force, adding to the team’s horror injury woes.
While things are doom-and-gloom at the Waratahs, the Force are daring to dream of snaring a finals berth after posting back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
The Force are just two points adrift of eighth-placed Fijian Drua, but they face tough matches against the Queensland Reds (away) and the Brumbies (home) to round out the season.
Their confidence is sky high after following up their 48-10 demolition of Fijian Drua with a crushing win over the Waratahs.
“Something we spoke about as a forward group is that all year we haven’t had a back-to-back win, so that gives us confidence,” Force captain Jeremy Williams said.
“But we won’t be celebrating too long.
“We know the position we’re in, and we move on to the Reds.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
These are the guys that do the cohesion predictions? That will be a very interesting review and they have likely already told the Crusaders of their expections for them given such a young and inexperienced squad without all their injured and departed players. I wonder if any of that will get leaked out, perhaps only if the cohesion metric predicted such a season? Actually even that would like badly upon the backoffice, I suspect it likely we will never know what Gain Line Analytics made of this season now! Unless the PUs put its publication to vote?
10 Go to commentsCurrently across the super franchises the forwards choices for Robertson is in the luxury of the competitions depth for selection . However same can’t be said regarding selection of the backs, especially the inside backs. I believe that’s where his dilemma will be. If he can’t get mouanga for the start then he should forget him and move on.
27 Go to commentsIf they had another round up their sleeve then no doubt the sadas wouldv been top8. I say leave things alone and get into the next season I rekon the turn around will carry on.
10 Go to commentsSimilar to Arran Smith in his style of application.
5 Go to commentsSave your money. Just learn from the bad stuff and play better next year. Lost loads of key players and had half the team out broken for most of the season.
10 Go to commentsJosh Ioane has been great for opposition teams all season. The sooner the Chiefs unload him to MP the better.
6 Go to commentsMunster have very good back row stocks nowadays, lots of guys with very high potential. Okeke is unlucky not to get a contract. If he came along 10 years ago, he almost certainly would have. Could be very good for Coventry.
1 Go to commentsGreat article! Love that you point out so much that is positive, and back it up with quotes and clips.
1 Go to commentsNo scapegoats. No knee-jerk reactions. Just excuses in an expensive report under file 13. I’ll give the saders some free consulting - no planning after Razor. Just let things fall flat to rebuild. Easy.
10 Go to commentsJosh Bayliss was the early sub for Barbeary
1 Go to commentsHis deficiencies in defence must be major and beyond rebuilding because on attack he has a unique set of skills matched only by a combination of Mark Telea, Shaun Stevenson and Etene Nanai Seturo. His aerial and kicking game is next level and he displays a contempt for one on one situations. We've become obsessed with our no. 11 being a power weapon ignoring the better multi faceted option. Mark Telea is helping to change that mind set, Salesi Rayasi would advance that too.
6 Go to commentsWayne barnes should join the Queen
271 Go to commentsHope both you dirty mutts get cancer and die
41 Go to commentsOqueef was on the saffa pay roll , needs his head stomped
180 Go to commentsChiefs miss a tight 5 of serious grunt. Missing Guzzlers.scrum power and the Blues have spent the last.few yrs nicking their props. Will have to start better than recent matches to stop the Reds.
6 Go to commentsWith the civil war going on over in NZR you have to wonder if these guys can afford to throw money around on consulting firms? Consultants just going to charge them thousands for the privilege of telling them that the brain drain is hurting them, they played like pork chops & maybe some insights gleaned from reading the various rugby blog posts with a couple of graphs thrown in to dicky the report up. My suggestion is they forego the consultants and get a subscription to watch the URC, English Premiership, Top14 and EPCR competitions so that they can learn a bit from all the players and coaches that have left already NZ.
10 Go to commentsI am pleased about the progress of Canada and their recent success. What concerns me slightly is the the PWR league in England has become the breeding ground for other countries’ players with nearly half of Canada’s team playing there. Long term sustainability of good international teams depends on developing their own leagues and systems. They cannot rely upon England forever.
1 Go to commentsShe has a good sense of the perfect fly half but I agree with her mother about the disfiguring tattoos. I shall watch her progress with interest.
1 Go to commentsSurprised Ireland haven’t already nabbed Rayasi. So much competition in the back three in all NZ Super teams that you need a coach who believes in you and will select you regularly.
6 Go to commentsBath Fan acting all innocent, like Hill would just walk up and casually do that without a reason too 😂
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