Waratahs vow to get physical

NSW have vowed to ramp up their physicality as they endeavour to keep their Super
rugby finals hopes alive with an away win over the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Waratahs enter the penultimate round in fifth spot, probably needing to win each
of their remaining games to clinch a finals berth.
They would do well to ignore the history books as their last win in Hamilton was 10
years ago.
The Waratahs will also look for an upturn in their offshore form, having lost each
of their four previous games outside Australia this year.
NSW have gleaned only one point from those games, though three of them were against
the teams that filled the top three positions heading into this weekend's round.
"This year we probably haven't been great offshore and it's time to get a win here
on what is an important weekend," Waratahs lock and vice-captain Dean Mumm told AAP.
The Waratahs will be bolstered by the return of scrum linchpin Benn Robinson, while
young flanker Pat McCutcheon has been given a first Super start in anticipation of
adding energy to the back row.
Mumm revealed there had been a focus on physicality after NSW were outmuscled by the
Highlanders at Invercargill last week.
"In terms of the physicality up front we definitely lost that battle and you just
can't win games without that physicality and that is going to be our aim tomorrow,"
Mumm said.
"With Robbo, he will certainly add to that and it's up to the rest of us to step up
and be able to carry a bit more ball."
The Chiefs, who are now out of finals contention, will be without several of their
main strike weapons.
Their fearsome back three of Sitiveni Sivivatu, Lelia Masaga and Mils Muliaina are
all missing, while five-eighth Stephen Donald and hard-running No. 8 Sione Lauaki
are also unavailable.
However, Wallabies forward Mumm said he was still very wary of the Chiefs' second
and back row personnel.
"They've got a very good pack. They've got a quality back row of Colin Bourke,
Tanerau Latimer and Liam Messam, who have been getting them turnovers and they are
certainly dangerous from turnovers," Mumm said.
"Their lineout has been very effective against the quality lineouts in the
competition. We are very wary of the Chiefs on both those fronts."
Mumm expected the Chiefs to be motivated by the fact they have lost each of their
previous games in Hamilton this year.
Waratahs coach Chris Hickey expected the Chiefs to play their traditional expansive
style.
He believed the Waratahs would need to score at least four tries to win the game,
which would also earn them a precious bonus point.
Hickey revamped the Waratahs backline, reinstating halfback Luke Burgess, shifting
Berrick Barnes from inside centre to five-eighth in place of Daniel Halangahu, with
Tom Carter moving from outside centre to inside centre.



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