New South Wales Waratahs coach Michael Cheika is preparing his players for nothing short of a battle when they meet the Canterbury Crusaders in a crunch Super Rugby clash at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
A re-match of last year’s Super Rugby final at the same venue, which the Waratahs clinched courtesy of Bernard Foley’s late penalty, the match has major repercussions for the play-off hopes of both teams.
The Waratahs are in the sixth and final play-off spot with four rounds of the regular season remaining, while the seven-time champions Crusaders are ninth and facing the prospect of missing out on post-season play for the first time since 2001.
A bonus point win for Todd Blackadder’s All Black-studded side on Saturday, though, could bring them level with the reigning champions on 36 points.
“It’s going to be a war zone this weekend that’s for sure,” Cheika told reporters in Sydney.
“It’s going to be a real battlefield. I really think they are a fine team and they will be coming off a bye, fresh.”
The Waratahs rebounded from an upset at the hands of the Western Force to beat the Natal Sharks on home soil last Saturday but the 33-18 scoreline disguised a scrappy win by a side that has not hit the heights they achieved last year.
A major factor in their 2014 success was physicality at the breakdown and, despite being without hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and possibly the hulking Jacques Potgieter, Cheika knows his pack will have to match fire with fire up front on Saturday.
“The urgency in the rucks is going to be key,” Cheika added. “I think they will come hard at us in the rucks and we’re really looking forward to the physicality of the game and the challenge it’s going to bring.
“It’s going to be tight but at the same time open, because they like to spread the ball, as do we.”
The Crusaders have a built a reputation over the years for hitting their straps at the business end of the season and doled out an eight try, 58-17 humbling of the Queensland Reds two weeks ago.
With no room for a slip-up in their final four matches, however, the Crusaders will have to build the same sort of defiant spirit that got them to the 2011 final despite the Christchurch earthquake destroying their home ground.
“With the quality and calibre of the guys we’ve got, we have got some big game players there, so it’s about time everyone stood up and we’re going to have to, collectively,” Blackadder told the New Zealand Herald.
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Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia
Three Penalties
v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)
v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)
v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)
Four Corners
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)
v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)
One Free-Kick
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
