Waratahs prop Harry Johnson-Holmes says NSW owes Newcastle a favour as they prepare to face “organised chaos” of the Blues in the city on Saturday night.
The Waratahs will return to McDonald-Jones Stadium this weekend to take on the Blues, just under a year after they took on the Sunwolves at the same venue.
That last visit was an infamous loss to the Sunwolves, their only defeat to the perennial Super Rugby strugglers.
Johnson-Holmes, who is from Newcastle, said there was a sense that the Waratahs owed a debt to the city’s rugby fans.
“Newcastle's got a great community of supporters of all sports, rugby especially, so we want to be able to pay them back,” he said.
“We had a great trip last time and we weren't able to get the job done when we went there so we've got some favours to pay back to the Novacastrians.
“I think the Sunwolves had a very good day that day where everything seemed to be sticking for them.
“For us when things weren't working for us they were able to capitalise and we weren't able to defensively take the ball from them as much as what we would've liked, therefore they kept piling on points as a great attacking side will.
“We weren't able to hold them out and they were able to make our mistakes points and they chipped away ast us and by the end we were chasing our tails a bit and playing as such”
The Blues won’t be an easy prospect by any means for the Waratahs and Johnson-Holmes expects that he will be targeted in his newly adopted tighthead spot.
Johnson-Holmes had a breakout season at loosehead last year, culminating in a Wallabies debut in Johannesburg, but with the departure of Sekope Kepu he has switched scrum sides this year.
The 22-year-old, who missed the season opener with the flu, said he welcomed that pressure from their trans-Trasman opponents.
“I don't think there's a lot of footage for them to check out but I think that could work in my favour if they're underestimating how we're going to operate as a front row,” he said.
“I've been pretty happy with how we've scrummaged in preseason. we had good dominance against the Highlanders and good parity against a pretty strong Reds pack.
“That could be the go but we'll have the tools in our arsenal to be able to offset that and use it to our advantage.”
Part of that will be ensuring that the new combinations being formed in the Waratahs pack are able to change and solve issues on the run should they find themselves on the back foot, Johnson-Holmes said.
"For us, as a front row we would love to be able to make adjustments and small tactical decisions, which we're working with Mark (scrum coach Mark bell) to be able to find those weaknesses within a pretty strong Blues pack," he said.
"We just want to try and target those and problem solve along the way. i think that's been our biggest thing is working to be adaptable and malleable in the way we scrum and problem solve on the go."
Forwards coach Matt Cockbain said the Blues’ style was a kind of “organised chaos” and they would be looking to ensure they converted their opportunities.
Cockbain said the team was pleased with the space they managed to create against the Crusaders last weekend but turnovers and errors cost them.
“I guess overall they really, we call it a bit of organised chaos,” he said.
“They like that ability to counterattack, they can all run and pass the ball very well, they're quite a big side and agile as well, so they like to take you on in that individual one-on-one situation.
“Again for us it's to play them with a little bit of structure but get into our attack structure as well so we can move them around and hopefully create those opportunities that we did last week.”
Flyhalf Mack Mason sat out training on Monday with a groin injury while the Waratahs are taking a cautious approach to Ned Hanigan who is still working his way back from a concussion.
The Waratahs take on the Blues at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday February 8, kicking off at 7:15pm AEDT, LIVE on FOX SPORTS, Kayo and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO. Buy tickets here.
