It’s a few weeks shy of 20 years since Ewen McKenzie famously deployed the Waratahs bus and players onto the streets of Canberra to help NSW snap a frustrating drought in the nation’s capital.
Having never won in Canberra since Super Rugby began, McKenzie changed things up in 2005 and tossed some mind-games into the build-up, sending the Waratah-branded bus to do laps of Civic and his players to cafes favoured by Brumbies.
The Waratahs won, and though ex-Tahs point more to a clever gameplan when it comes to due credit, the bus story folklore has lived on in the decades since – mostly because droughts have also lived on when it comes to the Tahs playing the Brumbies.
The Waratahs meet the ACT side on Saturday at Allianz Stadium, and they’re aiming to halt a 13-game losing streak against their southern rivals dating back to 2018. It’s a Waratahs record for most consecutive defeats against any side in 30 seasons of Super Rugby, as is the current eight-game losing streak at home against the Brumbies.
More bus-pionage won’t help much this week in Sydney. So in the pursuit of snapping another painfully long streak, NSW will pin their hopes on an unusual brew of new factors; including several former Brumbies coaches and players, embarrassment from last week’s loss to the Reds, and the very vague threat of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii returning from injury.
“I’ve obviously been in both camps, I know how important it is for both the Brumbies and the Waratahs,” Waratahs set-piece coach Dan Palmer said on Tuesday.
Harrison Goddard of the Brumbies scores a try against NSW in 2024.Credit: Getty
“I don’t think it changes much which camp you’re in. It’s just a big game you’ve got to get up for.”
Palmer is one of three people on the coaching staff with a Brumbies background, and like defence coach Locky McCaffrey, the former prop played for the Brumbies and NSW as well.
Waratahs coach Dan McKellar was also head coach at the Brumbies for five of his nine years on staff in Canberra.
McKellar left the Brumbies in 2022 and Palmer departed a year later, and though many coaches would say that is enough of an absence to negate any inside knowledge, it’s not the case with the Brumbies.
“The strength of the Brumbies has been seen, almost since day dot,” Palmer said. “They’re a very structured team, they’re a very set-piece orientated team, but now they’ve built on top of that. They’re really strong at the breakdown, their fundamental game is really good and have a strong backfield.
“You could talk to anyone in Sydney and they know what’s coming from the Brumbies. It’s how we prepare and deal with it.”
The Brumbies have, in fact, evolved since Stephen Larkham took over from McKellar, with a more open game that plays to the strengths of outstanding backs like Tom Wright, Len Ikitau, Noah Lolesio and Corey Toole.
But after “really soft moments” from the Waratahs were brutally exposed by Queensland last weekend, particularly in a first half rolling-maul try, it won’t shock anyone to see the Brumbies immediately probe for the same weakness.
The same uncompromising standards McKellar and Palmer helped forge at the Brumbies may be the key for the Waratahs to rebound, however.
McKellar foreshadowed a cranky review session on Monday and Palmer confirmed not only had it happened, but that the fire was still smouldering at Tahs HQ. Asked what had gone wrong in the maul try, Palmer said: “Just f—ing soft and lazy, mate.”
Brumbies captain Stirling Mortlock stands dejected as Waratahs players celebrate victory at Canberra Stadium in 2005.Credit: Getty
“You’ve got to know what your role is in that situation, and in that example, on the weekend, we were slow, lazy, and we didn’t get our roles right. Simple as that. They’ve got that message.”
Flanker Charlie Gamble said: “We are better than that, as a forward pack. It won’t happen again.”
The Waratahs were happy with their first 20 minutes in Brisbane, but not when the pressure came on thereafter.
“The growth of us as a group is under pressure, under fatigue, being able to stick to the plan, stick to our systems, and not get so easily dragged out of what we’re trying to do,” Palmer said.
Suaalii was sighted on the Waratahs training field on Tuesday, after missing three games with a toe injury. The superstar recruit looked good in an open-field session, but ran in defence with wider squad members, and not with the main team.
Palmer said Suaalii was “just progressing through his rehab and … moving quite well” but when asked if the star back might play on Saturday, Palmer took the chance to muddy the Brumbies plans just a little longer.
“Dan will name the team tomorrow,” he said.
It’s no mischievous bus. But after 13 straight losses, you give anything a go.
