The Waratahs have admitted they had their eyes on the wrong prize on Saturday night. Now, having entered the realm of sudden-death, they know it won't happen again.
Why? Because there is only one prize this week. Survival requires they knock off the Highlanders, who finished fourth in the New Zealand conference but are anything if easy beats.
"We were just a bit off [on Saturday]. That can happen in sport and perhaps we had one foot in the quarter finals and we were thinking about that": Chris Malone.
Photo: AAP
This is the game they might have been thinking about last week when the Brumbies steamed up the Hume Highway with a point to prove to themselves and their frenemies in blue. This time, the focus will be on the task at hand.
"Particularly on the back of [Saturday], our week's prep will just be about us in the most part. Our job as coaches is to prepare the boys around what the Highlanders might bring tactically, but we saw [on Saturday] that getting it right between the ears is the big thing that we need to do," NSW assistant coach Chris Malone said.
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"We were just a bit off [on Saturday]. That can happen in sport and perhaps we had one foot in the quarter finals and we were thinking about that."
The loss cost them a home semi-final, a fixture history proves is the only viable route to the trophy.
Room for improvement: Taqele Naiyaravoro of the Waratahs looks on after his side's loss to the Brumbies.
Photo: AAP
If they beat the Highlanders and results go the way the table suggests they will, the Waratahs will have to fly to Johannesburg to play the Lions in the semi-finals.
If the Jaguares can pull off a huge upset and beat the second-ranked Lions in that quarter-final, the Waratahs stay home and the Argentinians fly to Sydney.
But spending any time thinking about those permutations is a waste of time, according to Malone.
"If you don't win the quarter-final there's no point thinking about anything beyond that and then you just see how it plays out," he said.
"We've been to the Crusaders [in Christchurch] this year and scored a heap of points and should have won the game. I don't think [travelling] really matters but we can't even worry about it, we just have to get right for the Highlanders at home.
"It will be a huge game, potentially the last game at Allianz Stadium before the rebuild for the Waratahs, so we've got to ty to get as many of our supporters there as possible and make sure we get a good result."
Malone revealed Kurtley Beale sat out most of the training load last week as he battled tonsilitis, which is why he was replaced with 20 minutes to play against the Brumbies.
The illness will not affect his availability this week, but captain Michael Hooper remains too early in his rehab to be risked in Saturday's match.
