New South Wales Waratahs vs. Western Force: NSW to win in their home ground

NSW Waratahs will be up against Western Force in the next match of Super Rugby Pacific. The clash, refereed by Damon Murphy, will take place on Sunday, 13 March at Leichhardt Oval situated in Lilyfield of New South Wales, Australia.

As of now, the Waratahs are ranked fifth on the scoreboard, while the Western Force is ranked sixth. Since this is the point accumulation phase before the Australians face New Zealand, each win matters. Hence, the match is likely to be intense!

While 2021 was surely not a good year for the Waratahs as they failed to gain any victories, the same cannot be said for 2022. The team had entered Super Rugby with high morale following three preseason victories. This includes their preseason win against ACT Brumbies as well as Queensland Red.

However, of the three matches played in the game, NSW Waratahs only managed to win one – their last match against Fijian Drua.

Although the journey for Waratahs has not been the smoothest in this league, one excellent piece of news is the return of Harrison. He will be playing his first match after he was able to impress the crowd with his excellent performance in merely 30 minutes of the match with the Brumbies.

Coached by Darren Coleman, the team is using the same tactic as last year, whereby both Donaldson and Harrison were deployed as dual playmakers.

Alex Newsome, who would be playing at the wing, said that the team is putting effort into improving its banking points once inside the scoring zone.

“We are just trying to progress our game - we have had some good passages in the first three rounds, and I guess for us, sharpening our execution is going to help us convert when we enter the opposition,” he said.

He further commented on the upcoming match against the Force by remarking, “They like to hold the ball for long passages of play, so we have to make sure our discipline in defense is on song.”

The two teams clashed last year as well. However, Waratahs ended up suffering very tough losses against the Western Force. The defeat in Perth is likely to stay with the team as they again come face-to-face with their rivals.

After all, NSW had a nine-point lead right until the last eight minutes of the game. This is where the Force scored a try and won via penalty! The defeat is likely to charge Waratahs, who will put up a strong fight.

New South Wales Waratahs seem to be the stronger team for Sunday’s match. Not only are they backed by a winning performance last week but their team lineup has all the right additions, in the form of Harrison. It seems that NSW learns from its mistakes. So it is highly unlikely that it would let its 2021 losses go in vain.