Daryl Gibson could be headed for a showdown with his former boss-turned-Wallabies coach Michael Cheika after again declining to rest his Test stars for the NSW Waratahs’ must-win Super Rugby clash with the Melbourne Rebels.
Under Rugby Australia protocols, driven by Cheika, all state coaches are obliged to rest their Wallabies hopefuls for at least one game, if not two, during the Super Rugby season to ensure they are not over-worked before this year’s World Cup in Japan.
Gibson is still required to give backline linchpins Kurtley Beale and Bernard Foley, Wallabies captain Michael Hooper and fellow forwards Rob Simmons and Sekope Kepu spells.
But with the Waratahs’ finals hopes hanging by a thread, Gibson is running out of time and the coach all but conceded he had no plans on resting his Wallabies from crunch matches with the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday night and the Brumbies next week in Sydney.
“Obviously the opportunity for our boys to have those match-ups out of these next two games, they’re derby games that are essentially Australian trials in my eyes,” Gibson said.
“These guys are not only playing hard for the Waratahs but they are also putting their hands up for further selection.
“So (there’s) plenty at stake for them, a lot of meaning in these games, so I want to give them the opportunity.”
Cheika lured Gibson, a former All Black, from New Zealand to be his assistant coach in 2013 before the pair plot the Waratahs’ charge to an elusive first Super Rugby title the following season.
Gibson was coy when asked if he’d be prepared to run the gauntlet and not rest his Wallabies should they need to beat the Highlanders in the final round in three weeks to make the finals.
“Hypothetically it would nice to be in that situation and wouldn’t that be a good conversation to have,” he said.
Gibson on Wednesday rewarded Lalakai Foketi for his fine game in last weekend’s loss to the Jaguares by naming him as the replacement for injured centre Karmichael Hunt.
Hunt has been ruled out for 12 weeks with a knee injury that also cruels the dual international’s hopes of making Cheika’s World Cup squad.
In the only other change from the team that lost 23-15 to the Jaguares, Curtis Rona moves on to the wing with Cam Clark relegated to the bench.
“Off the back of two really excellent performances off the bench, we’ve found his (Rona’s) form too irresistible,” Gibson said.
“We had to put him in.”
NSW Waratahs: Kurtley Beale, Alex Newsome, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Lalakai Foketi, Curtis Rona, Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps, Michael Wells, Michael Hooper (capt), Lachlan Swinton, Rob Simmons, Ned Hanigan, Sekope Kepu, Damien Fitzpatrick, Tom Robertson. Res: Andrew Tuala, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Chris Talakai, Jed Holloway, Will Miller, Jake Gordon, Mack Mason, Cam Clark.
