WARATAHS coach Ewen McKenzie has defended the decision to take his squad to South Africa only two days before their two-match tour to the Republic after NSW lost to the Bulls on Saturday night.
Despite going down 16-13 to the Super 14 champions, the Waratahs are still second on the ladder and well placed for a home semi-final with two rounds remaining. But they must defeat the Stormers at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday to ensure they don't miss out on the big money-spinning match.
To do that, the Waratahs would need to devote plenty of time to recovery in the wake of a bash-and-barge encounter in heavy rain against the Bulls on Saturday.
McKenzie was adamant their preparation for the South African leg - which included a 14-hour flight that arrived late Thursday afternoon - played no role in their defeat. However, the physicality of the match and the chilly, wet and slippery conditions could exacerbate any lingering fatigue.
"[I] talked to the players. There was no issues. At half-time, the guys were good," McKenzie said. "We made replacements later than we thought we might because the guys were coping. We had plenty of chances to win it.
"We will rue our decisions on the field. We are not going to rue anything in preparation. We had enough there to be able to win the game."
In support of his argument, McKenzie said his 26-man playing squad recorded an unprecedented perfect record in their daily hydration readings.
"For the first time we had a hundred per cent success on hydration," he said. "You won't get any complaints from the players. They all felt good.
"We are not going to look at that for a reason. We are going to look at what we did on the field."
The Waratahs did not escape Saturday's match without any injury concerns. Prop Matt Dunning is in doubt for the Stormers match with a calf muscle injury, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau will be monitored for a head knock and fullback Sam Norton-Knight had his eye stitched, was blood-binned twice and reported blurred vision.
NSW got off to a great start and led 7-0 by the 8th minute after centre Rob Horne crossed for a try.
But the visitors didn't seize the point-scoring chances that came their way before intensifying rain turned the Loftus Versfeld field into a heavy track suited to the Bulls' kicking game.
In the 15th minute, Waratahs halfback Luke Burgess dived over the line from behind the ruck but dropped the ball before grounding it.
A 14-0 lead at that point may have been unassailable, especially given that only one more try was scored in the match, to Bulls hooker Derick Kuun just after the break.
The Bulls were further boosted by the replacement of injured outside centre JP Nel with Derick Hougaard in the 28th minute. Hougaard kicked a penalty and drop goal to have the Bulls trailing 7-6 at half-time. His kicking for territory for the rest of the game was instrumental.
Waratahs captain Phil Waugh still felt the match was always NSW's for the taking.
"It [the weather] obviously suited them. They kicked a lot better than we did," Waugh said. "But we had our chances to score. We could have gone 14-0 up … it [would be] a different game then. There are critical moments that change momentum. And we were on the receiving end of those."
Waugh said NSW had committed many of the same errors at the restarts in other games but still managed to win. "But against a team like the Bulls at Loftus with their kicking game, it hurts you," he said.
Waugh criticised referee Lyndon Bray for failing to stop the Bulls slowing down the ball at the breakdown.
"Lyndon said at the start of the game he wanted quality set-piece ball and quick ruck ball," Waugh said. "It felt like every time we went to the ruck, there was someone lying on the ball. It felt like they were repeat infringements, the same stuff over and over … blokes just lying on our ball. We wanted to play, and we couldn't play. It just gets frustrating."
