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Tuqiri at centre may kick-start Waratahs
Rupert Guinness | March 24, 2008
Tuqiri at centre may kick-start Waratahs - rugbyheaven.com.au
LOTE TUQIRI may be switched to outside-centre for Friday's clash against the Cheetahs in Sydney in a bid to inject much-needed penetration and direction into the Waratahs back line.
The move will be considered even if Ben Jacobs, who played at No.13 in Friday's 34-7 loss to the Crusaders but left the field in the second half with an injured left knee, is available for selection.
NSW coach Ewen McKenzie will wait until he gets a clear picture of Jacobs' condition today before assessing his selection options. Although Timana Tahu has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury, those options have improved. Daniel Halangahu (ankle) and Sam Norton-Knight (thigh) have overcome their injuries, and both can play on the wing or at fullback or five-eighth.
If Tuqiri is shifted to No.13 - where he played for the Wallabies in last year's World Cup - his spot on the wing could also be covered by fullback Lachlan Turner or utility Alfi Mafi.
Such a back-line reconfiguration would please Waratahs attack coach Todd Louden, who has spoken passionately about the value of positioning Tuqiri at first or second receiver. Besides his ability to break the line and offer solid defence, Tuqiri - who has embraced the idea of leading the back line - would be better able to help five-eighth Kurtley Beale and inside-centre Tom Carter.
"Lote going to the centres is definitely an option," McKenzie said. "We have the likes Norton-Knight and Halangahu coming back into the selection mix. We can actually think about a few of these things.
"If you have Timana out and Jacobs, then you have two guys out covering [No.] 13. We are not going to make wholesale changes just for the sake of doing it. There has to be a purpose behind it.
"He [Tuqiri] is obviously a difficult guy to handle. He breaks the line and breaks a lot of tackles when he plays. He adds something in that respect. But he does that no matter where he plays."
Meanwhile, McKenzie dismissed fears about his team's fitness levels, after Crusaders centre Casey Laulala said the home side had targeted the Waratah's stamina as a weakness in Christchurch.
NSW made 120 of their 190 tackles in the second half of Friday's match. It's an astonishing count considering the Super 14 average for an entire match is 127. "There is no team in the competition that is not going to get fatigued by that," McKenzie said. "I don't have any issues with our fitness. We have run over the top of teams all season."
The NSW coach also defended his team's kicking game and defensive approach despite pre-game talk of the Waratahs playing expansive rugby on a dry track. McKenzie argued that the team's tactics yielded a 7-6 lead after 50 minutes.
"We had three kicks we definitely would have liked to have been different kinds of kicks," he said.
Apart from Beale kicking out on the full from the restart after the Crusaders scored their second penalty, he said NSW "had a penalty shot that didn't get into touch and a chip kick in there somewhere. A couple were scant. But on the whole the strategy we had got us in front."
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