With Caleb Clarke and Rieko Ioane also injured,all bar one of the Blues’ backline will have fewer than 20 Super caps but McDonald was quick to state that the decision to rest his superstar players was “in no way disrespecting our opposition”.
How the Waratahs feel about that remains to be seen but it’s not the first time this season a New Zealand heavyweight has rested players against NSW. The Crusaders left Richie Mo’unga and three other All Blacks out of their Leichhardt Oval fixture in April and lost the game.
Movement on the table isn’t a factor in this game but a victory for NSW or the Blues would provide valuable momentum heading into the quarter-finals a week later.
Daniel Halangahu,a 74-game Waratah pivot who is now an assistant coach at the Blues,toldthe Herald he was fine with the perception that they were sending over an under-strength team to Sydney.
“We don’t give up games,under any situation,and really,if anyone wants to write us off we are happy for that. We enjoy being written off sometimes,” Halangahu said.
“If you look at the battle up front,we will take some confidence in the names we have got there as well. We have three All Blacks in that tight five. We feel like we have done a team that will go over there and do a job.