Waratahs vs Rebels Predictions - Waratahs backed for comfortable home win against Rebels

When these two last met, the Waratahs won the game 38-20 late in the 2023 season.

The Waratahs are having a strange season in many respects. They are 10th on the table with just one win from their five games, but some of their performances have warranted more.

In round to the Tahs’ beat the Crusaders in Melbourne but have since been quite unfortunate. They narrowly lost at home 23-21 to the Highlanders, a game they really should have won, before going down 12-10 to the Blues at home.

Last week, in a superb spectacle, the Waratahs took the Drua to the wire in Fiji but ended up losing the game 39-36. It was another game they could have gone the other way, and had the Sydney side had more fortune, they could easily have been on a four-match winning streak.

The Waratahs will simply see this as a must-win game. They will almost certainly select their strongest available outfit.

The Rebels are seven the table with two wins from their five matches. They have 10 points, three clear of their opponents.

Quite the opposite to the hosts in this game, the Rebels haven’t looked very good on most occasions this season but have had fortune with their fixtures. Their two wins came at home against the Western Force and away against Moana, probably their best performance to date.

Over the last two weeks the Rebels have shipped 50 points in both games, losing 53-26 at home to the Reds before going down 54-28 at the Hurricanes last weekend.

The Rebels will be quite pleased with their ball-in-hand form this season, but defensively they have conceded way too many points. I expect them to select a strong side this weekend but there needs to be a far better performance on defence if they hope to get anything from this game.