Waratahs assistant Chris Whitaker says NSW needs to adapt better to the reality of a changing lineup as they attempt to stay in touch with Super Rugby finals.
The Waratahs have won three games and lost four of their opening seven games by single figures to sit two games behind conference leaders the Rebels.
With a host of Wallabies in their lineup, the Waratahs find themselves preparing to leave out a high-profile player more weeks than not under the national rotation policy.
Whitaker admitted the changes might be denting players’ confidence, with new combinations struggling to click immediately each week.
“We’ve got a couple of new players coming in there and then combinations, we've switched them around most weeks,” he said.
“I suppose the boys have found it hard to get good combinations working, so maybe that's something we look at.
“We've got some types of limitations on what we can do with the policy that's been put in place but we just need to be the best that we can at that and come up with a way of giving them confidence in the combinations we're going to run out with.”
Whitaker said it hadn’t been a concern raised by players during the season.
“No, that's just my observation that I think we're creating a lot of opportunities but we're just not finishing them,” he said.
“I suppose that comes down to execution and skills and then it comes down to combination and confidence.”
One player who has seemingly rediscovered form after a slow start to the year is Israel Folau.
Folau scored his 60th career Super Rugby try against the Blues to take the all-time record ahead of Doug Howlett.
“He's one of those players that you probably want to give the ball as much as you can,” Whitaker said of Folau.
“I think that's what we did on the weekend, he worked hard to put himself in a position to touch the ball and I think every time he touched the ball he created something.
“Whether it was from a high ball or spaces out wide, he's got the ability to create space for himself and other people.
“Our mentality is to give the ball as much as we can to him.”
The Waratahs play their next match at the SCG and while A-League side Sydney FC has confirmed its plans to move an April 18 match from the cricket ground, Whitaker said they had no worries.
“That's rugby,” he said.
“Injuries happen, they happen in training. We've had no issues with it so it's not a concern for us.”
The Waratahs are on a bye week and will take on the Rebels on the SCG on April 20.
