Waverley first XV coach Scott Coleman believes it may take his side longer than 70 minutes to gain ascendency over Knox in a potentially season defining CAS clash at Wahroonga on Saturday. 

Waverley and Knox are two of three undefeated teams heading into round two and Coleman said his side was excited about Saturday’s opportunity. 

“After the past few interrupted seasons, I think everyone is just pumped to be playing footy again,” Coleman told Rugby News. 

“Not only to play a proper season, but to get to play in a big game like this, it’s been a really exciting build up and I know the boys are really looking forward to the opportunity on Saturday.”

Waverley overcame a slow start in their CAS season opener against St Aloysius’ prior to the June long weekend to claim a 48-13 victory in round one. 

“We were probably a little bit complacent in the first part of the game against Aloys and it took us a little while to start playing the type of rugby we wanted to play,” Coleman said. 

“I can’t imagine that complacency will be an issue this weekend though. The boys know how big a match this is and seem to be really excited and up for the opportunity.”

Knox also started their season with a comfortable victory over Cranbrook with Sam Bourgeois, Jarrah McLeod and Alex Sherlock all scoring doubles. 

But despite the high scoring round one results, Coleman said he thought defence would be key this weekend. 

“Knox are a really tough, well drilled side with a good set piece and very strong defence,” Coleman continued. 

“We know we’ll need to take our opportunities and covert them into points when we can because Knox don’t give sides a lot of chances.

“We spoke to the boys this week about the fact that the game probably won’t be decided until after the 70th minute, it might even take 75 minutes to get a result and we will need to keep working right through to the final whistle if we want to get the result.”

In other CAS matches over the weekend, Cranbrook host Barker and Aloys take on Trinity. 

Coleman said he thought sides that were undefeated heading into the July break would take a big advantage into the back end of the CAS season. 

“Looking at the results from round one, it looks as though Barker, Knox and Waverley will be right in the mix and any clash between those three sides could potentially go either way. 

“It’s still very early in the season but a win this weekend will go a long way in setting a side up for the remainder of the competition.”