New South Wales coach Chris Hickey called in Daniel Halangahu at flyhalf with Berrick Barnes moving to inside centre, with lock Dave Dennis set for his first Super 14 start in the match against the Bulls on Saturday.
The Waratahs will attempt to combat the altitude at at Loftus Versfeld by not travelling to Pretoria from their base in Cape Town
until Friday.
“Daniel’s done a really good job when he’s come on at the back end of the game,” Hickey said on the Waratahs’ website. “We think
that by having Daniel along with Berrick there at 10 and 12 we’ll have good game management throughout the whole game.”
Dennis has replaced Will Caldwell, who drops to the bench alongside the promoted Locky McCaffrey in the changes to the team that lost 27-6 to the Stormers last week.
Dennis toured with the Australia team to the northern hemisphere in 2009, playing two midweek games.
“He [Dennis] brings aggression, he’s got good mobility, good speed around the park and he’s an explosive jumper in the lineouts,” Hickey said. “He covers all those areas, which are going to be important in the match against the Bulls.”
Hickey also said backline playmaker Kurtley Beale would get some game time in Pretoria.
“Kurtley will play some time off the bench in this game and with his versatility he can cover a lot of positions in the backline,” Hickey said. “At the end of the match when the game starts to open up a bit, you hope there’ll be a few opportunities there for Kurtley.”
The Waratahs have four points while the Bulls have the maximum of 10 after two rounds of the competition. — Sapa-AP