Dealing with the Israel Folau saga has been “very tough” at times but Waratahs veteran Damian Fitzpatrick says it’s not an excuse for a string of close losses that have tallied up into an overall poor NSW season.
The Waratahs crashed to their ninth loss of the year against the Brumbies at Bankwest Stadium - the third-most defeats in a season since the conference system was created in 2011.
NSW lost all but one of their matches by eight points or less, and another by 11 points.
They still remain a very slim chance of making the finals, should they beat the Highlanders with a bonus point and other results conspire to make 35 points enough to scrape into the top eight.
That task will be made even harder with NSW coach Daryl Gibson likely to rest as many as five Wallabies, with Sekope Kepu, Rob Simmons, Michael Hooper, Bernard Foley and Kurtley Beale all still due a week off.
"I don’t know the maths but even if we go over there take five points, it’s still going to be tough to make the finals," Fitzpatrick said.
"It’s one of those times when you’ll reflect on a season and you’ll be kicking yourselves. There’ll be lessons in it. But close enough is not good enough. I think that’s going to be the big lesson to take out, for a lot of the boys who are going to be here next year.”
The fact the Waratahs lost all their matches by tight margins will not be a source of refuge, according to Fitzpatrick. Each of them was a defeat and the final tally of either 6-10 or 7-9 will be the only stat that counts.
"That will be the learning. Eleven points or a score here or there. Whatever. Those accumulated losses mean a lot at this end of the season,” Fitzpatrick said.
The oxygen-sucking presence of the Israel Folau suspension and sacking has been hard to escape for the Waratahs, and Fitzpatrick admitted it was hard to get away from - despite their best efforts.
"It’s been pretty glaring there’s been some stuff going on in our team but full credit to our guys and the resilience they’ve shown, with really trying to stick to the job week to week,” he said.
"I don’t want to use that as an excuse because I feel we have prepared well, had game plans for teams we’ve played. But unfortunately, we executed in patches. I don’t think we have played an 80-minute performance this tear. And that’s pretty telling in this comp at the moment. If you don’t play 80 minutes teams will take by a point or two.
"At certain times it’s been difficult, particularly after a win and you want to come in and talk about a good result. But something (about Folau) pops up. You guys are just doing your job covering the story. And we end up talking about something else. Yeah, it can be frustrating.
"I can’t speak on behalf of everyone but there have been times this year where its even very tough.
"At the same time we’ve tried to keep doing what we’ve been doing and keep going. The coaches have been brilliant in not raising that as an issue and trying to get knuckled down from what we’ve tried to do.
"There are certain things that have happened this season, yeah, we would love to put them behind us both as an organisation and as a sport.”
The Waratahs have three players confirmed as departing at the end of the season - Sekope Kepu, Nick Phipps and Curtis Rona are all going to London Irish - and there is uncertainty about what Foley, Beale, Karmichael Hunt and Adam Ashley-Cooper will do next year.
"I don’t know what the coach is going to do with selections but if there are guys going to get their first crack at Super Rugby, what a stage down there. Probably rainy, probably very cold Invercargill,” Fitzpatrick said.
Daryl Gibson said in the post-match press conference that Mack Mason would likely replace Foley for the game, and Fitzpatrick backed the Easts pivot to rebound from his “off night” in the no.10 shirt against the Sunwolves early in the year.
"Mack is an incredibly tough bloke. He is a bushie through and through,” Fitzpatrick said.
"He is going to thrive with an opportunity. Defensively he can really do the job and he’s going to enjoy, if he does start, they’ll put traffic down his way and he’s going to love it.
"Everyone has off nights and he’d probably love to have the Japan over again. But at the same time he really drives the second team, so to speak, during the week. He does a fantastic job there and he’s probably looking forward for an opportunity to go out and show what he can do. Because he is a talented player.”
