Whitaker Back To Ease The Strain In House Of Pain
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday April 28, 2003
NSW's remote chance of making the Super 12 finals has been boosted by the quick recovery of Waratahs halfback Chris Whitaker, who is expected to play against the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday night.
When Whitaker damaged his ankle at NSW training this month, it was assumed he would miss the rest of the Super 12, along with fullback Mat Rogers, who is also sidelined with injury.
But Whitaker returned to the training track yesterday, running through several drills with NSW team physiotherapist Greg Craig.
Later, NSW coach Bob Dwyer reported that Whitaker was now a strong chance of regaining his spot against the Highlanders.
Mathematically, seven teams, including the Waratahs, can make the finals, but NSW must get 10 points from their last two matches and have at least four other results go their way.
Winning, and getting a bonus point at Carisbrook, otherwise known as the House of Pain, will be a tough task. But having Whitaker back will at least ease some pressure.
``Chris ran today without any trouble," Dwyer said last night. ``We just want to see how he brushes up tomorrow."
Dwyer was speaking at one of his old haunts, Concord Oval, where the Sydney representative team trounced Queensland A 53-5.
After the Waratahs backline struggled against ACT, Dwyer began looking at several attacking options and yesterday received some good news and some bad.
The good news was that Sydney inside-centre Morgan Turinui excelled, scoring two masterful tries.
The bad news was that outside-centre Ryan McGoldrick, who was in contention for the Highlanders game, injured his ankle in a ruck in the first minute and shortly afterwards hobbled from the field, his moment lost.
Turinui took up the slack and showed why he is so close to securing a regular Waratahs starting XV position. Turinui has the power of a back-rower and the vision of a masterly midfielder but he was helped by excellent inside work, in particular from five-eighth Duncan McRae.
One perfect moment of communication came when McRae kicked across field straight to Turinui, perched on the Queensland line, who took the ball on his chest before grounding it for a try.
Turinui later admitted he was in trouble at home, as he was supposed to have spent the weekend with his girlfriend in the Blue Mountains. Instead, he responded to the call from Dwyer to play in the Sydney centres.
``Duncan McRae and I both asked Bob Dwyer if we could play for Randwick this weekend because we wanted to have a game. Instead we appeared for Sydney, and it was great to have 80 minutes," Turinui said last night.
``Duncan made it easy for everyone today. We were just instruments in his orchestra."
Another standout was Sydney winger Cameron Shepherd, who followed his fine performance for Sydney against Japan in Gosford, with another two tries yesterday.
NSW officials confirmed last night that despite a report that they were still interested in Dwyer for next season, the Waratahs would have a new head coach next year.
``We've got to look ahead," NSW Rugby Union chairman Dilip Kumar said yesterday.
``We are definitely not looking backwards."
© 2003 Sydney Morning Herald
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