‘Stop putting Kiwi sides on a pedestal’ – Tahs vice-captain
Mitchell Drummond of the Crusaders celebrates with teammates after scoring during the Round 3 Trans-Tasman Super Rugby match between the NSW Waratahs and the Canterbury Crusaders at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, Saturday, May 29, 2021. (AAP Image/David Neilson) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY ** STRICTLY EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO COMMERCIAL USE, NO BOOKS **
Waratahs vice-captain Alex Newsome believes that the Australians should stop exalting the qualities of New Zealand sides and instead ‘back themselves’ to win these games.
The Aussie Super Rugby teams have struggled since the start of the trans-Tasman competition, winning just one of the 15 matches played between the franchises.
They had succumbed in all 13 encounters before the Reds finally snapped that streak when the Queenslanders defeated the Chiefs 40-34 on Saturday.
Reds show the way
Newsome insists that the performance of Brad Thorn’s men shows what the Australians can do when they don’t focus on the talent that is in front of them.
“We’ve just got to stop putting all these Kiwi sides on a pedestal and look at what the Reds did in that first half on Saturday night and look at what Izzy’s (Izaia Perese) been doing to defences and just rip into them,” he told reporters.
“When Australian sides are really confrontational and just backing themselves, you can just see what they can do.
“Everyone’s got two arms, two legs and a heartbeat. Everyone’s built the same.
“So obviously it’s been a shocker of a year but we’re looking to finish with two wins and we’re fair dinkum about that.”
Super Rugby Trans Tasman | Waratahs v Crusaders – Rd 3 Highlights
The @crusadersrugby made it three straight wins to kick off Super Rugby Trans Tasman, earning a bonus-point victory over the @NSWWaratahs in windy Wollongong.#SuperRugbyTT #WARvCRU pic.twitter.com/AJLqUUusdX
— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) May 29, 2021
The Waratahs in particular have endured an awful season, losing all of their matches in Super Rugby AU and then failing to pick up a win in the trans-Tasman tournament so far.
They haven’t really got close to challenging the New Zealand sides and shipped over 50 points for the second time following their 54-28 defeat to the Crusaders.
“(It’s) massively deflating,” Newsome said. “You go out and have a feed with your mates at the pub and they’re almost too scared to ask you about how footy’s going because they know that you haven’t won a game all year.”
While the games itself are difficult, what follows for Newsome and his team-mates is arguably even worse as they look back over the many things that are going wrong in the matches.
He added: “They’re embarrassing reviews. We’ve got guys being accountable in the reviews but it’s too late then, isn’t it? That’s what’s disappointing.”