Former Wallaby Stephen Hoiles breaks down Waratahs v Lions

‘LET the club go.’

It was Michael Cheika’s fearless mantra for the Waratahs’ breakthrough 2014 title and Stephen Hoiles is encouraging NSW to play with that same free spirit in Saturday night’s Super Rugby semifinal against the Lions at Ellis Park.

Hoiles was a member of that champion 2014 side and the former Wallabies backrower is now in Johannesburg as a commentator for Fox Sports.

In a chat with the Fox Rugby Podcast he broke down the keys to Saturday’s second semi (11.05pm kickoff AEST) and the areas in which the Waratahs could trip up the heavily favoured Lions — who are gunning for their third straight finals appearance.

‘THE MOST THREATENING MAN IN SUPER RUGBY’
Inside centre Kurtley Beale is in career best form for both the Waratahs and Wallabies and was the scheming architect of NSW’s remarkable 30-23 quarterfinal comeback win over the Highlanders — throwing the final pass for two of three quickfire tries.

Hoiles showered Beale with praise and admitted he thought the Waratahs were toast down 23-6 at halftime in Sydney last weekend.

“I was actually fearing it was going to be a blowout,” Hoiles said.

“I thought they were gone for all money.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a big turnaround, from what looked like it was going to be a 30, 40 point drubbing.

“They were like a team possessed for the last 30 minutes, it was remarkable.

“Kurtley Beale showed exactly why he’s the most threatening man in Super Rugby.

“I reckon he’s up there with Beauden Barrett, all those guys.

“I don’t think anyone can turn a game as well as Kurtley Beale can.

“When you look at the sides, I just believe the Tahs have too many points in their superstar big three — (Bernard) Foley, Beale and (Israel) Folau.

“(Nick) Phipps at altitude as well is the perfect halfback because he just runs all day and it doesn’t fatigue him.”

‘LET THE CLUB GO’
Then Tahs coach Cheika caught the public’s imagination in 2014 with a passionate and left field approach that spurred NSW on to new heights.

A big Tiger Woods fan, Cheika even brought golf sticks into the dressing room on one occasion and urged his players to metaphorically ‘let the club go’ on the field and throw caution to the wind.

Current NSW coach Daryl Gibson was Cheika’s right hand man back then and Hoiles hoped a similar mindset would prevail in the cauldron of Ellis Park.

“I think the Tahs just need to get it right physically and not worry about things,” Hoiles said.

“It’s a bit like the Brumbies the week before (in beating NSW) — when they had nothing to play for they had their best game of the year.

“When the Tahs had nothing to play for (at halftime in the quarterfinal) they played their best 30 minutes of the year.

“So that’s shown something, that there is a whole mental issue here.

“And the old phrase that Michael Cheika used — ‘let the club go.’

“Just play football, don’t worry too much about the peripherals and Australian rugby teams look as dangerous as any team in the world.

“Maybe there’s too much going on in their head, too much though that they’ve got to get this right or get that right.

“It coincided with some players sitting on the bench probably getting the shits thinking ‘why is this happening?’

“(Tolu) Latu, (Tom) Staniforth, Paddy Ryan — all of these guys that came on almost took all the technical stuff out of the carries.

“They didn’t look to tip (pass), they just carried hard and tackled hard and that brought the rest of them along with them.”

THE ALTITUDE AND TRAVEL FACTOR
Ellis Park is one of world rugby’s most daunting venues when the Lions or Springboks are on song.

The Waratahs have never won an away finals game (0/5) and everyone is expecting a Crusaders v Lions decider next week.

The Johannesburg stadium is proudly perched 1724 metres above sea level and the attack minded Lions back themselves to prey on their oxygen deprived opponents late in games.

But NSW assistant coach Simon Cron played down the travel factor as he prepared to fly out of Sydney Airport on Sunday.

“I liked that message from Simon Cron — Jo’burg isn’t actually that hard a place to get to — it’s one flight,” Hoiles said.

“You’ve just got to put all that stuff out of your mind.

“While it is a challenging place to play because you are at altitude, they’ve got a lot of players that have played big games over there — Test rugby, Super Rugby.

“They’ve been there since Sunday afternoon South African time — I don’t think they’ll use that as an excuse.

“The fact that they are a smaller, more mobile pack will help them massively in Jo’burg.

“If you were to take the big fellas of the ’14 side, you’d probably have to think harder about your bench and when you get them on.

“But (Michael) Wells, Will Miller, (Jed) Holloway is a backrower playing second row — they’re a very mobile pack.”

BY HOOK OR BY CROOK
The Waratahs have made just one change to their starting lineup but it is a crucial tweak with Wallabies rake Tolu Latu replacing Damien Fitzpatrick in the starting lineup.

It is a cruel demotion for Fitzpatrick, who has started every single game this season, but Latu’s recent form had been bordering on irresistible after improving his work ethic and throwing balls to captain Michael Hooper in the early hours of the morning.

Latu will go head to head with Springboks sensation Malcolm Marx, who is on the verge of breaking David Pocock’s record for most turnovers in a Super Rugby season.

“With Latu they’ve got more of an on baller which will probably slow up their (Lions) attack,” Hoiles said.

“I don’t think the recent lineout issues have been the throwing, I think it’s been the calling over the last couple of weeks.

“There hasn’t been enough movement — and you don’t always want a lot of movement in your lineout — you generally just want to throw and jump.

“But I think now they’ll have to mix it up a bit.

“But throughout the course of the season the lineout’s been very good for the Tahs.

“You’ve got to get that right at altitude because if you get it wrong, you give penalties away in the wrong part of the field, you get points put on you over there.

“Set piece is an important part of any game but especially in a semifinal at altitude.”

WHY THE TAHS WILL WIN
“I’m biased and I think it’ll be extremely challenging for them but I think they’ve got the mentality that they’ll concede 30 points and score 40,” Hoiles said.

“They’re that side that goes ‘that’s OK, you’ve done that, we’ll do this.’

“I think they’ll learn from the last couple of games that they don’t have to be too complicated.

“Their shape is a little bit complicated so they’ve got to work hard so they’re in the right spot but it’s a pretty simple theory.

“They don’t always need to run over the top of people to get the ball to their backs, they’ve just got to get quick recycle ball.

“I don’t think the Lions are as good a side as they have been the past two years.

“I think last year was their championship year and as a squad they’re probably not as good as they have been.”