The master wordsmith Tom Keneally describes the posturing of coaches and players in the media before a big match with typical good humour and accuracy as "foreplay".

So there were the Waratahs banging on about the need not to make mistakes and get too carried away about the Crusaders' record before their trip to Christchurch. But what was this from Robbie Deans, the coach of the Crusaders? Deans said he expected the Waratahs to use their firepower around the park. "They will seek to attack. They will seek to involve everyone. We will see a team prepared to use more expanse than we have in the first few rounds," he said.

But this did not happen. The Waratahs maintained the courage of their restrictions by adopting their usual Christchurch tactics of trying not to lose by too many points (which has worked, unfortunately, in the past), and were thrashed. The Deans game plan is one that should be adopted by any side that wants to play consistently winning rugby. The evidence for this comes from a fascinating 45-page statistical analysis produced by the IRB on the 2008 Six Nations tournament.

The review, which was produced by Corris Thomas, noted that England were the only team in the Six Nations that had had a "positive" 2007 Rugby World Cup tournament, playing in the final. And in five matches in the 2008 Six Nations, England conceded only five tries. Wales had a disastrous 2007 RWC, not even making the finals. But they won the 2008 Six Nations with a grand slam of victories, conceding only two tries. It's always easier to win matches when you don't concede tries. But a resolute defence doesn't necessarily win rugby tournaments. Tries win matches.

In Six Nations 2008, England scored only eight tries. In 2001 England scored 28 tries. In Six Nations 2008, Wales scored 13 tries, up from the seven tries the team scored in Six Nations 2007, and two more than the next-best side, France, with 11 tries. Other aspects of Wales' winning play as identified by the IRB review showed they kept the ball in the hand more than other teams, scored 11 tries in the last 40 minutes of play, put the ball into touch noticeably less than any other team and scored more tries from inside their own half than England, Scotland, Ireland and Italy put together.

Question: which team in Christchurch resembled England and which team resembled Wales? So far this season the Waratahs have conceded only 86 points, the fourth-best defensive record. But they have scored a miserable tally of 83 points in five matches, the second-lowest in the tournament. Only the Highlanders, on the bottom of the table, with 82 points from five matches, have scored fewer points. The Crusaders have scored 228 points.

NSW play the Cheetahs (for 113, against 195) on Friday night at the SFS. Wales have shown that a winning style can come quickly if the players and coaching staff embrace it. Let's see the Waratahs bring it on, in the Welsh way.

spiro@theroar.com.au