The Waratahs are preparing to 'throw their punches' at the Brumbies attack as coach Darren Coleman played off any suggestions of the hosts still being the 'battlers'.
The ACT-side always take their preparation to the next level for 'Tah week', with player after player expressing their desire to get one over the old rivals.
Coleman is well aware of this, having been in both camps following his stint with the Brumbies Academy.
However, times have changed since then and Dan McKellar's squad are lathered full of Wallabies, with McKellar himself a part of the national coaching staff.
“I think they used to beat up the whole (rivalry) because they were the misfits back in the day, the team no one wanted when they were originally set up so they had a lot of added incentive,” Coleman told reporters.
“The Waratahs and Sydney were always the glitz and glamour club but it’s up to them how they want to build it up. They’re the ones with 12 Wallabies and Wallaby staff and have been the benchmark of Australian Rugby the last few years.
“I reckon he’d have a hard time building up the whole underdog status and the battler status."
This success has been forged on their set-piece, with the rolling maul near automatic from short distance.
To combat this, Coleman and the Waratahs are looking to limit their midfield errors whilst pushing for a fast and quick attack, which they found success with against the Reds.
“I think you’ve got to throw punches,” he remarked on how to stop the Brumbies.
“You can’t go there and expect to outbox them for 15 rounds and finish on a points decision. If they get into the structured areas of their game plan, you got to be really on point.
“When we do get that chance, we’re trying to score fast and quickly and knock them out that way as opposed to going jab to jab.
“It all starts with your discipline. If you give those penalties around the halfway mark when they are in multi-phase, you going to be defending your line out 5-10 out and that’s where they are at their strengths.
“We’re going to have our best swing at it. We’ve got a plan and our forwards are really excited for the challenge….We back our resilience and toughness to stand up.
“You don’t want to be doing it too often but when they do, we want to be having a crack at stopping them.”
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The Waratahs' plan to go with a six-two split with their bench were scuppered after lock Jeremy Williams was forced out with a groin infection.
This will see Max Douglas elevated to the starting side, with Jack Grant brought into the 23 with no other loose forward available.
The late blow puts any suggestions of Will Harrison potentially being thrown into scrumhalf to rest and whilst captain Jake Gordon joked Harrison was better built than him for the position, Coleman didn’t see a permanent move on the horizon.
“We still see his position as being either 10, 12 or 15 here,” he reinforced.
“You make some tactical decisions as you go about rolling the dice around where you leave yourself a bit skinny on the bench and up until Jeremy’s (Williams) loss, we were going to roll the dice without a specialist nine on the bench and then have that emergency cover.
“It’s a dead point now because we don’t have any forwards to cover Jeremy so we’ll go with a traditionally nine (in Jack Grant).”
