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All Blacks star Ardie Savea says he fully expects to be sledged by the Waratahs and would have no hesitation in doing just that if the roles were reversed.
Savea, was banned for one week for his throat-slitting gesture in an explosive moment after being yellow carded against Melbourne Rebels.
While he apologised for his actions in the immediate aftermath, he seemed much less remorseful about his transgression when speaking to New Zealand reporters on Thursday.
“Obviously I broke the law of unsportsmanlike conduct, whatever that is. But what is unsportsmanlike? How do you define that in rugby?
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“Is it talking trash? Is it degrading players? I find that fine, because that’s the sport. But I find I’ve opened up a can of worms by breaking that law. What does unsportsmanlike [conduct] look like?”
The Waratahs’ Ned Hanigan said the team didn’t want to give an already excellent opponent any more motivation to perform on Friday.
“Don’t poke the bear I reckon,” Hanigan said.
Rebels and Hurricanes clash during the round two Super Rugby Pacific match. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
“An unreal player. His ball carrying abilities and skills in disrupting what you want to do with the ball, he’s a back-rower that’s considered world class for a reason.”
The NSW Waratahs Women take on Force and the Tahs men battle the Chiefs in an enthralling double-header on Friday, 24 March at Allianz Stadium.
Tahs teammate Charlie Gamble added: “Ardie’s Ardie. It’s all about bringing that energy and that work rate around the field.
“If you feel like you’re competing for absolutely everything then … if he’s a better player, if he’s carrying a lot stronger than you, if he’s making line breaks, it is what it is.
“That’s Ardie Savea. There’s going to be parts of the game where he’s going to do some outstanding stuff on the field. It’s just about limiting that.
“We’ll be doing as much as we can to reply to that. It’s an exciting challenge.”
Savea’s absence was felt against the Blues as the Hurricanes lost 25-19.
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“I have some close boys in the Blues team so it would’ve been awesome to smash each other but the great thing about the Canes at the moment is that we have some quality players across the park, especially in the loose forwards,” Savea said.
“It doesn’t matter who is playing, guys are stepping up and doing a good job and that keeps me on my feet. But watching the game was hard, man. I got itchy feet and because it was close, it was awesome to watch as a fan but I wished I was on the field.”
Saea said both sides would be depsrate to bounce back after defeats last week.
“We want to be consistent around the games we play, and that’s about playing the full 80 and starting well instead of giving teams a head start because it’s really hard to come back.
“We know the Waratahs are hurting, but we’re hurting too and they’ve got some quality players across the park so we have to be on our A-game.”
