Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson says flyhalf Bernard Foley needs to shake off the weight of expectation to turn his patchy form around.
NSW's backline has struggled to click so far this season, a trend admitted by both Kurtley Beale and Israel Folau this week, and Foley is among those short of top gear after the first five rounds.
Foley's patchy goal kicking has been a reflection of his slow start to the year, with just a 45 per cent return off the tee this season, a drop from his competition-leading 89 per cent conversion rate in 2018.
Gibson said Foley had to shake his own expectations off to return to his best rugby.
"Bernard's probably working the hardest of any player at the moment on and off the field and he wants to get back to those levels that we expect of an international player," he said.
"A lot of it is freeing him up a little. He's carrying a lot of his own expectation around what he should be performing at and really just freeing the mind and letting him going in and playing as a champion player should."
Gibson has retained all but two of his starting lineup that lost to the Brumbies as they prepare for the Crusaders with Curtis Rona rotated out of the side and Nick Phipps starting over Jake Gordon.
Karmichael Hunt will return to the side off the bench, still recovering from a hamstring injury, with Kurtley Beale staying at 12 and Israel Folau again at fullback.
"Karmichael obviously still recovering from that hamstring, definitely will get game time and that's a good thing for him he's recovering reasonably well, well enough to take a place there," Gibson said.
Michael Wells returns to the 23 after spending six World Series rounds with the Aussie Men's Sevens while hooker Andrew Tuala is in line to make his debut off the bench with Tatafu Polota-Nau returning to England this week.
The match will be a special one for Gibson, a former Crusaders player and assistant coach, but he said things would be no different after last week's Christchurch attacks.
"Being a former Crusader, being a Crusaders coach, it's the game I look forward to the most out of everything in the calendar," he said.
"We know what we're in for and being on the other side of that and making sure our team's well prepared for this contest is a real challenge.
"Obviously going to be a lot of emotion flying around, it's a huge tragedy that's occurred in Christchurch and how the players and the people of Christchurch and new Zealand are dealing with that but obviously once the whistle goes I'm sure it'll be back to business for them."
The Waratahs take on the Crusaders at the SCG on Saturday March 23 at 7:45pm AEDT, LIVE on FOX SPORTS, Kayo Sports and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO. Buy tickets here.
TEAM
IN: Andrew Tuala, Michael Wells, Karmichael Hunt
OUT: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Curtis Rona, Ryan McCauley
Waratahs to face Crusaders
1. Harry Johnson-Holmes
2. Damien Fitzpatrick
3. Sekope Kepu
4. Jed Holloway
5. Rob Simmons
6. Ned Hanigan
7. Michael Hooper
8. Jack Dempsey
9. Nick Phipps
10. Bernard Foley
11. Alex Newsome
12. Kurtley Beale
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
14. Cam Clark
15. Israel Folau
Reserves
16. Andrew Tuala
17. Rory O'Connor
18. Chris Talakai
19. Lachlan Swinton
20. Michael Wells
21. Jake Gordon
22. Mack Mason
23. Karmichael Hunt
