Winning an elusive Super Rugby crown with the NSW Waratahs, not the Bledisloe Cup with the Wallabies, is Nick Phipps’ No.1 priority.
Phipps’ halfback showdown with incumbent Wallabies’ No.9 Nic White is just one of numerous vital head-to-head duels that could decide Saturday night’s blockbuster derby with the Brumbies in Sydney.
But with Australian conference honours on the line, and the chance for the Waratahs to all but secure a precious home final, Phipps insists pushing his case for a Wallabies starting spot is the last thing on his mind.
Phipps says he and the Waratahs’ fellow Wallabies have been targeting the pivotal clash with the Brumbies for weeks.
“Even being in camp (with the Wallabies) for the last three weeks, you knew especially among our boys that it was never too far away,” he said.
“It probably hasn’t even left our minds. The question was raised today: Is anything more important than our goal? And no one had any answers.
“We said this four or five months ago and we have been so working hard since then to try and achieve it.
“Having it within arm’s reach is not the boys getting safe or self assured. It’s more like firing up, knowing it’s just there and if we can work hard we can get there.”
Along with the halves match-up, Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie will be closely monitoring several other individual clashes ahead of the Bledisloe Cup opener with the All Blacks on August 16.
Waratahs centres Adam Ashley-Cooper and Kurtley Beale are up against Tevita Kuridrani and Christian Lealiifano and, if he recovers from a groin strain, Brumbies playmaker Matt Toomua will go-head-to-head with NSW’s Test five-eighth Bernard Foley at ANZ Stadium.
The Brumbies will be missing Wallabies lock Sam Carter and hooker Stephen Moore, but McKenzie will nevertheless also be observing the battle up front.
“It’s not so much the head-to-heads, but how they perform under the pressure of a big match,” McKenzie said on Tuesday.
“When they go head-to-head, they’ll obviously know each other well and know individual weaknesses.
“So if you can handle that situation, that’s a good thing.
“Every time players play against big teams, you want to see how they handle that moment.
“So I’ll be watching closely.”
Already three competition points clear of the Brumbies with a game in hand, the Waratahs will almost certainly secure the Australian conference title with victory.
“We have great opportunity ahead of us in this game,” said Waratahs coach Michael Cheika.
“It would be crazy to not look forward to taking advantage of it.”