The NSW Waratahs may be without a host of Wallaroos for Saturday's Super Rugby W opener against the Fijian Drua but coach Mike Ruthven is confident they have the depth to manage.
The defending champions will open the season at Leichhardt Oval with several big-name players on the sidelines, including Wallaroos flyer Maya Stewart.
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Stewart damaged her ankle during the Pacific Four series and is set to miss the opening rounds of the competition.
She is joined on the sidelines by Waiaria Ellis (knee) and Faliki Pohiva (concussion), with Annabelle Codey also on the sidelines. It comes with Sevens import Tia Hinds (calf) facing an uncertain return after her injury last week.
This, along with the departures of Arabella McKenzie, Katrina Barker and Tatum Bird, leaves the Waratahs with a vastly different team than the one that took out the title last year at North Sydney Oval.
"We've always had a really strong focus around retention from a squad point of view and our recruitment has been very targeted," Ruthven said.
"We're really confident in the group we've got. Players like Millie Whitaker and Rosie Ferguson have been around the program for a number of years now. The opportunities in front of them now to go and grab it and I'm sure they'll do a good job.
"Not discouraged at all around players moving on. It just creates opportunity and again, those players who've got that opportunity now have been in and around the system, in and around the program for a while. They just need to go and grasp it now."
Ruthven had a front-row seat to what the Fijiana Drua can do during his stint with the Wallaroos, helping them defeat Fijiana in Canberra.
With the majority of players from that Test side turning out for the Drua, the Waratahs are on guard for a tough encounter.
"They're a physical team. It's probably their point of difference," he said.
"They're good in and around their offload game and if they generate momentum, and they've definitely got some threats at width. We know what's coming, we just need to make sure that we're really strong in and around that collision space, both sides of the ball. If we can be really consistent around that, we'll certainly be in it."
The Waratahs will blood a host of new faces, including new halves Piper Simons and Dutch international Pleuni Kievit.
