He’s the biggest player to wear a Waratahs jersey since Will Skelton and NSW coaches are hoping giant second-rower Miles Amatosero will make his physical presence felt in a similar way after being picked for his Super Rugby debut against the Queensland Reds on Saturday.
The 125-kilogram, 203-centimetre forward was included in the Tahs’ starting second row for the opening round but a lengthy injury list at Daceyville has started to bite before a ball has been kicked, with 10 players sidelined and an inexperienced bench to be deployed in Brisbane.
“His size is one thing. There are not that many guys running around in Super Rugby, in other Australian teams, with that size,” Waratahs assistant coach Pauli Taumoepeau said. “We want him to bring his physicality around his set-piece. He has to scrum well, he has to maul well and he has to lift and jump well and do those jobs to an elite level.”
Just two weeks after they were thumped 32-7 by the Reds in a trial in Roma, the Waratahs will face Queensland at Suncorp Stadium with plenty to prove as they aim to improve on their quarter-final exit last year.
After missing the trial in Roma, Izaia Perese, Fergus Lee-Warner and Max Jorgensen will all return to the Waratahs side.
Jorgensen played his first 40 minutes in a trial at the weekend after recovering from a broken ankle, but Tahs coaches have elected not to rush the teenager back into the run-on side, instead naming Joey Walton in the No.15 jersey and putting the youngster on the bench.
Miles Amatosero limbering up for Waratahs training in Sydney.Credit: Steven Siewert
Lee-Warner, who played 36 matches for the Western Force, returned from England over the summer and will make his Waratahs debut at No.6.
But the Waratahs will be without injured Wallabies forwards Dave Porecki, Ned Hanigan and Lachie Swinton, and with props Tom Ross and Tom Lambert also unavailable, NSW have been forced to name a bench with modest levels of Super Rugby experience.
Reserve hooker Theo Fourie and Warringah lock Sam Thomson are both set to make their debuts, and so is Hayden Thompson-Stringer, although the veteran English prop is not a novice, with regular appearances in the Top 14.
Reserve prop Daniel Botha will be playing in only his 10th Super Rugby game, however, leaving 48-game veteran Hugh Sinclair to provide the majority of the experience to the bench, which also contains Teddy Wilson (six caps), Harry Wilson (nine) and Jorgensen (11).
“We learntd a few lessons through the trial period,” Taumoepeau said. “It was good to have those conversations and we feel we have some good fixes on that.”
Reds back-rower Harry Wilson lit the fuse this week for a fiery clash.
“The moment you pull on the maroon jersey or blue jersey, there is hatred there,” Wilson said.
“I’d love to see Caxton Street full before the game and post-game for a few celebratory drinks after. He [coach Les Kiss] is really trying to instil the rivalry of old. On Monday, you could see he was getting pretty fired up and he had to temper himself down a little bit.
“If he’s fired up for it, we’re all going to be too.”
More to come
