I'm fit enough for Bledisloe, says Waugh

Rupert Guinness | August 17, 2009


Despite playing only 21 minutes of Test rugby this season, Phil Waugh believes his full game of club rugby on Saturday proved he would be ''right to go'' if picked to play for the Wallabies this weekend.

Waugh pulled on the No. 7 jersey for Sydney University in their 16-12 Shute Shield win at Eastern Suburbs, who also fielded Wallabies hopefuls in openside flanker Matt Hodgson and outside-centre Ryan Cross.

Cross had a solid game, scoring Easts' second try in the first half to give them a 12-3 lead at the break.

The game was a tight, physical affair that made it hard for any of the Wallabies to really stand out in the lead-up to Saturday's Bledisloe Cup match at ANZ Stadium.
But it nevertheless allowed the hard-finishing Students to hold their lead in the Shute Shield over Manly, who played their round 20 game against Gordon at Chatswood Oval yesterday.

The Beasts scored two tries to one, but the Students dominated field position in the second half and took the lead at the 59th minute when five-eighth Daniel Halangahu potted one of his three penalty goals. Halangahu had also converted blindside flanker David Haigh's second-half try.

Waugh said the onus on him was not so much to produce individual brilliance in front of Wallabies coach Robbie Deans, who was watching the game - and no doubt the Waugh-Hodgson clash - but to be consistent in the execution of his tackles and ball scavenging.

''It wasn't so much about standing out, but being accurate with what I was doing in the tackle and those sort of areas,'' said Waugh, a 79-Test veteran.
''It was a pretty physical clash, a good contest, and I certainly got a lot out of it in terms of match fitness and just being back out there and playing again.''
Waugh's 80 minutes of play will be critical should he get the nod for Saturday's match against the All Blacks. It will no doubt have helped to spark his competitive juices - let alone sharpen his fitness - after missing selection in the Wallabies' 22-man squad that recently lost to the Springboks in Cape Town.

This season, Waugh's time in Test rugby amounts to nine minutes against Italy in Canberra, and then 12 against France. In the Tri Nations opener against the All Blacks at Eden Park, he was selected on the bench but did not play. Other than that, he has played five club games for Sydney University.

''There hasn't been a huge amount of time at national level, so it's more about getting out there and getting the time under the belt,'' he said. ''But now I have full confidence after that 80 minutes that if I get the opportunity, I am right to go. My fitness felt pretty good actually.''

Waugh, who has played in 17 Bledisloe Cup Tests and in two of the Wallabies' World Cup campaigns, also hopes his big game experience will play in his favour with selection this week.

''I hope so. You never know what the selectors will go with. Hopefully, all that comes into account,'' he said.

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