New South Wales coach Ewen McKenzie has relied on a defense-oriented gameplan punctuated with episodes of attacking flair to get his Waratahs into a Super 12 rugby final for the first time.
To win a maiden Super 12 title, he knows he'll need to come up with something a little bit different to upset the four-time champion Canterbury Crusaders, who're entering their seventh final in eight seasons.
No team has a better record in the championship than the Crusaders and it's fitting that the Christchurch-based New Zealand franchise is hosting the last Super 12 match before the competition expands next season to a Super 14.
"Clearly they're in form and confident. It's going to be a big challenge, but certainly one we're not backing away from," said McKenzie, whose Waratahs finished equal on 44 points with the Crusaders after the regular season but dropped to second place based on scoring equations.
The Waratahs ended the Bulls' six-match winning stretch in Saturday's semifinal at Sydney, coming back from a seven-point deficit to secure a 23-13 win over the South Africans and a spot in next weekend's final.
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