Tahs lose Foley for Super Rugby opener

Feb 23, 2017 - 5:47 AM The Western Force will have to deal with a playmaker nicknamed 'fettucine' rather than Bernard Foley, with the NSW Waratahs losing the Wallaby pivot for their season-opening Super Rugby clash.

Foley suffered a head knock last week in the Waratahs' final trial and will be replaced by Bryce Hegarty for Saturday's match at Allianz Stadium.

With Foley only recently returning from his off-season break after the Wallabies' spring tour, Hegarty has spent much of the Waratahs' pre-season running at No.10.

Hegarty, missing most of the NSW's 2016 campaign with a knee injury, has accumulated more than 30 Super Rugby caps, most of them with the Melbourne Rebels.

"The reason we recruited Bryce in the first instance was because of his experience, the number of years he's played down at the Rebels," Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said.

"We get an excellent replacement and someone who can really step in and just run the show without skipping much of a beat.

"Bryce is a really unusual player. The reason he is so popular is he doesn't, in a really nice way, look like he should be playing 10 or rugby!

"We call him fettucine, which is a reference to his legs, because they look like spaghetti and they look like they are going to fall off at any moment.

"But he can play the game, he's got wonderful game sense, a good skill set and an excellent rugby brain.

"That's the thing that attracts me to him is he gets the game.

"While he doesn't have all the talents in the world, he utilises every ounce of them."

Asked what Hegarty made of his unusual nickname, Gibson said: "He loves it. It's a bit of an endearing nickname and it's one, that unfortunately for him, is sticking."

In Foley's absence, Hegarty or winger Reece Robinson will handle the goalkicking duties.

Gibson said Foley was still suffering some dizziness and hadn't passed his cognitive tests.

However, he expected him to be right to make the Waratahs flight on Sunday to South Africa.

The Waratahs had another late injury blow with replacement lock Ned Hanigan forced out with a hamstring injury.

Former Queensland Reds second-rower Dave McDuling has taken his place on the bench.

Source: AAP