Latest news with #HughSinclair
The Advertiser
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Waratahs pack told to man up in must-win Blues battle
Stand-in skipper Hugh Sinclair has placed the onus squarely on the NSW forwards as the Waratahs chase a seismic victory in Auckland to scrape into the Super Rugby Pacific finals. The Waratahs must beat the defending champion Blues at Eden Park for the first time since 2009, then hope Moana Pasifika fall to the Hurricanes later on Saturday to secure a miraculous berth in the play-offs. And the Tahs will need to notch a famous victory at New Zealand rugby's traditional graveyard for rival teams without inspirational halfback and captain Jake Gordon. With Gordon out injured, coach Dan McKellar has opted for a new halves combination with flyhalf Jack Bowen promoted to start alongside new No.9 Teddy Wilson at one of rugby's great cauldrons. Playing possibly his last game for NSW with his future beyond this season uncertain, Sinclair is demanding the Waratahs' pack steps up on Saturday afternoon to make life easier for the rookie pairing. "It's obviously a different beast over here, Eden Park, against the Blues but you've got to throw them in some time," Sinclair said at Friday's captain's run. "You've just got to throw them in and see how we go, and our boys are really excited. "Bowie's been great. He's still got Tane (Edmed) on the bench, you've got Lawson (Creighton) there, (Andrew) Kellaway. It helps having that experience around them as well. "They'll be fine. As long as the pack can get on the front foot and make life a bit easier for those guys, I think we'll get the result. "You've got to take it to them over here at Eden Park, especially against the Blues. They're a quality outfit, so it's exciting and the boys and me are up for the challenge." Sinclair is well aware the Tahs haven't won at Eden Park in 16 years, but feels being underdogs has its advantages. "We've just got to go out there and play," the lock said. "There's no pressure, no expectation for us to win, so we can really just focus on ourselves and not focus on any of the outside noise." If the Waratahs win, they'll face an anxious wait of around three hours to see if the sixth-placed Hurricanes topple the Moana, who are coming off an 85-7 loss to the Chiefs. "Obviously you can't control that, unfortunately," Sinclair said. "We'll do as much as we can to get through and see what happens, I guess." Should they progress, the Waratahs will play either the Chiefs, Crusaders or ACT Brumbies in another do-or-die away match in the first week of the finals. Stand-in skipper Hugh Sinclair has placed the onus squarely on the NSW forwards as the Waratahs chase a seismic victory in Auckland to scrape into the Super Rugby Pacific finals. The Waratahs must beat the defending champion Blues at Eden Park for the first time since 2009, then hope Moana Pasifika fall to the Hurricanes later on Saturday to secure a miraculous berth in the play-offs. And the Tahs will need to notch a famous victory at New Zealand rugby's traditional graveyard for rival teams without inspirational halfback and captain Jake Gordon. With Gordon out injured, coach Dan McKellar has opted for a new halves combination with flyhalf Jack Bowen promoted to start alongside new No.9 Teddy Wilson at one of rugby's great cauldrons. Playing possibly his last game for NSW with his future beyond this season uncertain, Sinclair is demanding the Waratahs' pack steps up on Saturday afternoon to make life easier for the rookie pairing. "It's obviously a different beast over here, Eden Park, against the Blues but you've got to throw them in some time," Sinclair said at Friday's captain's run. "You've just got to throw them in and see how we go, and our boys are really excited. "Bowie's been great. He's still got Tane (Edmed) on the bench, you've got Lawson (Creighton) there, (Andrew) Kellaway. It helps having that experience around them as well. "They'll be fine. As long as the pack can get on the front foot and make life a bit easier for those guys, I think we'll get the result. "You've got to take it to them over here at Eden Park, especially against the Blues. They're a quality outfit, so it's exciting and the boys and me are up for the challenge." Sinclair is well aware the Tahs haven't won at Eden Park in 16 years, but feels being underdogs has its advantages. "We've just got to go out there and play," the lock said. "There's no pressure, no expectation for us to win, so we can really just focus on ourselves and not focus on any of the outside noise." If the Waratahs win, they'll face an anxious wait of around three hours to see if the sixth-placed Hurricanes topple the Moana, who are coming off an 85-7 loss to the Chiefs. "Obviously you can't control that, unfortunately," Sinclair said. "We'll do as much as we can to get through and see what happens, I guess." Should they progress, the Waratahs will play either the Chiefs, Crusaders or ACT Brumbies in another do-or-die away match in the first week of the finals. Stand-in skipper Hugh Sinclair has placed the onus squarely on the NSW forwards as the Waratahs chase a seismic victory in Auckland to scrape into the Super Rugby Pacific finals. The Waratahs must beat the defending champion Blues at Eden Park for the first time since 2009, then hope Moana Pasifika fall to the Hurricanes later on Saturday to secure a miraculous berth in the play-offs. And the Tahs will need to notch a famous victory at New Zealand rugby's traditional graveyard for rival teams without inspirational halfback and captain Jake Gordon. With Gordon out injured, coach Dan McKellar has opted for a new halves combination with flyhalf Jack Bowen promoted to start alongside new No.9 Teddy Wilson at one of rugby's great cauldrons. Playing possibly his last game for NSW with his future beyond this season uncertain, Sinclair is demanding the Waratahs' pack steps up on Saturday afternoon to make life easier for the rookie pairing. "It's obviously a different beast over here, Eden Park, against the Blues but you've got to throw them in some time," Sinclair said at Friday's captain's run. "You've just got to throw them in and see how we go, and our boys are really excited. "Bowie's been great. He's still got Tane (Edmed) on the bench, you've got Lawson (Creighton) there, (Andrew) Kellaway. It helps having that experience around them as well. "They'll be fine. As long as the pack can get on the front foot and make life a bit easier for those guys, I think we'll get the result. "You've got to take it to them over here at Eden Park, especially against the Blues. They're a quality outfit, so it's exciting and the boys and me are up for the challenge." Sinclair is well aware the Tahs haven't won at Eden Park in 16 years, but feels being underdogs has its advantages. "We've just got to go out there and play," the lock said. "There's no pressure, no expectation for us to win, so we can really just focus on ourselves and not focus on any of the outside noise." If the Waratahs win, they'll face an anxious wait of around three hours to see if the sixth-placed Hurricanes topple the Moana, who are coming off an 85-7 loss to the Chiefs. "Obviously you can't control that, unfortunately," Sinclair said. "We'll do as much as we can to get through and see what happens, I guess." Should they progress, the Waratahs will play either the Chiefs, Crusaders or ACT Brumbies in another do-or-die away match in the first week of the finals.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Waratahs pack told to man up in must-win Blues battle
Stand-in skipper Hugh Sinclair has placed the onus squarely on the NSW forwards as the Waratahs chase a seismic victory in Auckland to scrape into the Super Rugby Pacific finals. The Waratahs must beat the defending champion Blues at Eden Park for the first time since 2009, then hope Moana Pasifika fall to the Hurricanes later on Saturday to secure a miraculous berth in the play-offs. And the Tahs will need to notch a famous victory at New Zealand rugby's traditional graveyard for rival teams without inspirational halfback and captain Jake Gordon. With Gordon out injured, coach Dan McKellar has opted for a new halves combination with flyhalf Jack Bowen promoted to start alongside new No.9 Teddy Wilson at one of rugby's great cauldrons. Playing possibly his last game for NSW with his future beyond this season uncertain, Sinclair is demanding the Waratahs' pack steps up on Saturday afternoon to make life easier for the rookie pairing. "It's obviously a different beast over here, Eden Park, against the Blues but you've got to throw them in some time," Sinclair said at Friday's captain's run. "You've just got to throw them in and see how we go, and our boys are really excited. "Bowie's been great. He's still got Tane (Edmed) on the bench, you've got Lawson (Creighton) there, (Andrew) Kellaway. It helps having that experience around them as well. "They'll be fine. As long as the pack can get on the front foot and make life a bit easier for those guys, I think we'll get the result. "You've got to take it to them over here at Eden Park, especially against the Blues. They're a quality outfit, so it's exciting and the boys and me are up for the challenge." Sinclair is well aware the Tahs haven't won at Eden Park in 16 years, but feels being underdogs has its advantages. "We've just got to go out there and play," the lock said. "There's no pressure, no expectation for us to win, so we can really just focus on ourselves and not focus on any of the outside noise." If the Waratahs win, they'll face an anxious wait of around three hours to see if the sixth-placed Hurricanes topple the Moana, who are coming off an 85-7 loss to the Chiefs. "Obviously you can't control that, unfortunately," Sinclair said. "We'll do as much as we can to get through and see what happens, I guess." Should they progress, the Waratahs will play either the Chiefs, Crusaders or ACT Brumbies in another do-or-die away match in the first week of the finals.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Talk is cheap', coach demands action from his Waratahs
Pulling no punches, coach Dan McKellar has laid down the law to his NSW Waratahs ahead of a do-or-die Super Rugby Pacific derby with the Queensland Reds. McKellar is promising no Churchillian speeches before Friday night's showdown in Sydney, saying his charges should already know what is expected after last week's 40-17 submission to the ACT Brumbies. The sobering defeat in Canberra, a fifth from five away games this spluttering campaign, has left the Tahs in third-last spot and prompted McKellar to ring some six changes to the starting team for the must-win encounter at Allianz Stadium. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "It's Queensland versus NSW so I said to the forwards earlier on, 'If you need motivation for this game, if you need me to give you something to get you up for this game, then we should change occupations'," McKellar said after Thursday's captain's run. "So it's a big game and it's important in terms of the context of our season and it's Queensland versus NSW, so we get stuck into it. "I was pretty angry after the Brumbies performance, just the second half in particular. "The players needed to know that, and they were pretty disappointed as well. "But the beauty of this game is, you get the opportunity to respond pretty quickly. "Talk is cheap now. It's all about our actions." Among the six casualties from the Brumbies drubbing was lock Hugh Sinclair, who captained the side during Jake Gordon's month-long stint out injured. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement McKellar bristled when asked if Sinclair was merely being rested. "No, we made some changes, mate. We didn't play well last week so we've made some changes," he said. "It's pretty simple. Selection is really easy. It's all about performance." Flyhalf Lawson Creighton was another victim of the fallout, with Tane Edmed winning back the No.10 jumper for the first time since round two. Edmed finished last season wearing the Wallabies gold in the last Test of 2025 and McKellar commended the 24-year-old's professionalism during his two months warming the bench, or worse, not even making the Waratahs' match-day 23. Tane Edmed takes on the Crusaders' defensive line during the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS) "Great attitude. Great attitude at club training. Excellent, and that's all important," the coach said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "In times of adversity, you watch how players react to it and respond and he's been good and, off the back of that, he stays at the forefront of your mind. "If they drop their bottom lip and sulk and don't want to be good team members, then you don't have a lot of thought for that. "So he's been excellent in how he's handled himself, so he'll be excited to get an opportunity this week." With Noah Lolesio heading to Japan at season's end, Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham is said to be eyeing off Edmed as a replacement playmaker in the ACT. McKellar, though, issued a polite hands off, with Edmed also very much in the Waratahs' future plans. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "A NSW boy, loves the Waratahs and his family's here and that sort of thing. So, yeah, the retention of all of our players is the first thing that we look at before we recruit," McKeller said. "So he's certainly in the conversation." Also coming off a loss, to the Fijian Drua in Suva, the fourth-placed Reds enter the pivotal match seven points ahead of the Waratahs and with the chance to kill off their arch rivals' finals hopes.
