A heart-to-heart with backrower Lachie Swinton has convinced Darren Coleman and the Waratahs that the former Wallaby is the right man to take on the powerful Blues pack.
Swinton retains his spot in the starting side for Saturday's quarter-final after returning last week from a six-game suspension against Moana Pasifika.
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The 26-year-old was suspended for six weeks after a late hit on Force playmaker Jake Stratchan, who has only recently returned via club Rugby after the resulting concussion.
Speaking to the media for the first time since the incident, Swinton was eager to put the incident behind him and prove his quality on the field.
“I prefer not to, it’s behind me. I have spoken about it many times and I just want to put it in the back of my mind,” he responded when asked to speak on the long-term suspension
“I am done with that, I’m moving on. The proof will come, and all your questions will be answered in my performances. The proof will come in my actions.
“…I’m not trying to prove myself to anyone. The only opinions I care about are in my circle, and my teammates and my coaches.”
Waratahs assistant Pauli Taumoepeau was excited to get the aggressive back-rower back, impressed with how he has applied himself during the break.
“It’s pretty cool to see him back, seeing him get to his hitting best on the weekend, we just played a couple of hits before our wrestling session. I thought he was really mature with the time off that he had.,” Taumoepeau said.
“He really wanted to get better in the other skill sets. He was doing some extra lineout stuff, always working on his defence. The way that he plays the game, having those weeks off would obviously be very refreshing for his body and I think we saw the combination of six weeks off on the weekend where he was able to put on some big shots.
“If you want to go into battle with someone, Lachie Swinton’s a pretty awesome bloke to have next to you. Not only good for him and his soul to be back playing footy, but also for the rest of the team.”
He acknowledged Swinton's checkered history, red-carded on Wallabies debut in 2020 before copping another one against the Chiefs to finish the Trans-Tasman competition, only to have that rescinded.
“The thing was, can you trust him? Is he going to get us into more trouble? DC (Darren Coleman) has a way of doing that eye-to-eye. He’s just looked Lachie in the eye and just said ‘You’re hurting the team when you’re doing this. We’re a much better side with you’,” Taumoepeau explained.
“You’re pulling at the heartstrings or not, but I felt we got an immediate reaction from Lachie."
Swinton is joined by several Wallabies in the starting side as they look to bounce back from last week's disappointing defeat to Moana Pasifika.
Jed Holloway has overcome a cork in his squad to line up alongside Ned Hanigan in the second row whilst Dave Porecki returns to the front row.
Langi Gleeson comes back into the starting side as Michael Hooper retains the captaincy in Jake Gordon's absence (concussion), with Gordon's spot on the bench taken by Junior Wallabies skipper Teddy Wilson.
Gleeson's Manly teammate Lalakai Foketi has also recovered from an ankle injury, with Izaia Perese remaining on the wing to deal with the dangerous Mark Telea.
“After disappointing & letting down our hometown supporters in the last regular season game of the year at home on Saturday, we have re-set and are excited by the challenge to redeem ourselves," Coleman said.
“We understand the enormity of the opposition on their home patch, but it's something we look forward to ripping into.
“We’ve had a good short week of prep and will play like a team with nothing to lose.”
WARATAHS (1-15): Te Tera Faulkner, Dave Porecki, Archer Holz, Jed Holloway, Ned Hanigan, Lachie Swinton, Michael Hooper (c), Langi Gleeson, Harrison Goddard, Ben Donaldson, Dylan Pietsch, Lalakai Foketi, Joey Walton, Izaia Perese, Mark Nawaqanitawase
RESERVES: Mahe Vailanu, Tom Lambert, Nephi Leatigaga, Taleni Seu, Charlie Gamble, Teddy Wilson, Tane Edmed, Harry Wilson
