As he leads his team into one of the toughest opening schedules in Super Rugby, Coleman will be focusing on improving his back row’s work at the breakdown after they were comprehensively outmuscled by the Reds.
The Waratahs will travel to Melbourne to face the Crusaders next Saturday as part of Super Round, avoiding the defending champions’ loyal fan base in Christchurch. The Crusaders will have a point to prove after falling to a rare defeat against the Chiefs in Hamilton in their opening round.
Waratah Langi Gleeson is tackled during the clash against the Reds in Brisbane.Credit: Getty
The Waratahs will then stay on the road, facing the Highlanders and the Blues in New Zealand.
Wallabies winger Izaia Perese is in doubt for the Crusaders game after failing to return to the field after halftime in Brisbane having taken a knock to the head. Perese will go through concussion protocols but as per World Rugby guidelines, he is likely to face a 12-day stand down.
Captain Jake Gordon is looking forward to facing the defending champions and feels that the Waratahs have reasons to be optimistic ahead of a daunting assignment in Melbourne.
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“They’re coming off a loss, too, so they’ll be pretty fired up,” Gordon said. “Those match-ups you really get excited for, we’ve got some stuff we need to improve on and learn. But you know, if we can do a little bit longer what we did in that first half tonight, we’ll have a good crack.”
The halfback is also looking forward to reuniting with the Crusaders new head coach Rob Penney who previously coached the Waratahs three years ago.
“I spoke to Pens [Penney] probably about a month ago. He seems to be enjoying his time over there and he’s a good rugby man. I’m excited to not so much go up against him but go up against the Crusaders.”
Coleman refused to blame the referee for a costly yellow card to Max Jorgensen late in the first half that also resulted in a penalty try, after the fullback tackled his opposite number Jordan Petaia fractionally early before he gathered the ball.
The coach was pleased that Jorgensen was able to get minutes under his belt after a difficult return from injury, but believes that he can improve significantly ahead of the clash against the Crusaders.
“It’s not near Max’s best, but he’d agree with that. There’s some good things in there, but there are one or two little errors and he looked dangerous at times.
“He’ll be better for it, I’m glad he got a touch early, getting touching him from our first sequence of attacks, that was good for him. I reckon he’ll be better again next week, he knows where he’s at now.
Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season, kicking off on February 23, with every match ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.
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