Backs key to matching the Bulls, says Turinui

Morgan Turinui. Picture / Bay of Plenty Times

SYDNEY - Waratahs midfielder Morgan Turinui has targeted Bulls No 12 Ettienne Botha as the man his side has to negate in Saturday's Super 12 rugby semifinal.

Wallabies back Turinui claimed NSW had the most consistent forward pack in the competition, but said the Waratahs' one weakness at the moment was their back play.

He said if the Waratahs backs can improve to support their superb forwards it will go a long way to determining Saturday's result.

"I just think as a unit, the backs can pick it up a little bit," Turinui said.

"The plays we've been doing, we've been practising for a long time, we should have them down pat, so we really need to get the execution right in the games.

"Little specific things like running lines and timing on the ball, and pass accuracy are the difference between a clean break and a half break where you are tackled.

"There's only going to be probably four, five, six scoring opportunities in the game this weekend and we can't afford to miss one because of a bad pass or a missed running line.

"We need to be more accurate and ruthless in our execution. We're getting a lot of good ball from the forwards, so we need to repay them by using it well."

The Bulls' tally of 36 tries is the third best in the competition, just two behind the Waratahs.

Almost two-thirds of the Bulls tries have been scored by just three men, wingers Bryan Habana (nine) and Akona Ndungane (seven) and second five-eighth Botha (six).

Uncapped Botha was controversially omitted from the Springboks touring party at the end of 2004, despite being named Currie Cup player of the year after scoring 18 tries in that competition.

"Ettienne Botha, their inside centre is a great player, an outstanding player and a real talisman for them, they go well when he's on the field," Turinui said.

"In their backline, he really is the one that gets them right over the backline, once their forwards go forward, he is the one who can sniff around.

"He's pretty unpredictable, he can do anything, you can never switch off on him and in terms of our backline strategy, we'll have to negate him to stop them releasing guys with time and space out wide."

The Waratahs boast the best defence in the competition, conceding just 174 points and 19 tries in 11 games, but Turinui felt they would need to step up even more in that area next Saturday.

Captain Chris Whitaker was confident the Waratahs would provide few opportunities for Bulls five-eighth Morne Steyn, who landed all 13 of his shots at goal against the Stormers last week.

"We've been good all year, our discipline is good. We haven't been giving away silly penalties and I think it comes from trusting our defence," Whitaker said.

Turinui predicted the Bulls would display a completely different attitude on Saturday to the team thrashed 42-12 by the Waratahs in Sydney back in round five.

"They'd come to the end of their horror road trip, that every South African team does, and I think to be honest, a lot of their guys just wanted to get home," Turinui said.

Wallabies prop Al Baxter today agreed to remain with NSW until the end of the 2007 season.

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie remained optimistic second five-eighth Nathan Grey, fullback Mat Rogers and lock Daniel Vickerman would all recover from shoulder damage in time to play on Saturday.

- AAP