Waratahs to step it up in pursuit of Super Rugby finals

Unfazed by a 34-point drubbing, the NSW Waratahs have wiped the slate clean and set their sails towards the Super Rugby Pacific quarter-finals.

The Waratahs slumped to 10th on the ladder after Saturday's 55-21 loss to the Blues at Eden Park.

But without a galaxy of stars after resting key Wallabies including Michael Hooper and others unavailable through injury, Tahs coach Darren Coleman all but wrote off the Blues game even before a ball was kicked.

"There's no point dwelling on the weekend. It is what it is. It was always going to be a tough game and that's what it proved," NSW defence coach Jason Gilmore said on Monday.

"So we'll get around some of the guys individually but it's full steam ahead."

The Waratahs host the Highlanders on Friday night and face home games against the Melbourne Rebels, Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika plus away matches against the Queensland Reds and Crusaders.

Three wins from their last six regular-season fixtures should be enough to clinch a top-eight berth - and Gilmore says there'll be no excuses if they can't achieve it.

"It kind of went in two halves. The first part of the season we played the top three teams and we competed pretty well," Gilmore said.

"We obviously wanted to get a couple more wins but there were some reasonable performances in there.

"The Blues game was always going to be tough with the Wallaby rotations but we've got home games now, so we should be ready to go.

"We've got our targets that we want to hit in these back six games so we'll be ready."

The Waratahs welcome back a host of Wallabies this week, including Hooper and fellow heavy-duty forwards David Porecki, Ned Hanigan and Langi Gleeson.

But even in defeat Gilmore said being able to blood young flanker Hunter Ward in Hooper's absence against the Blues was priceless development and experience for NSW.

"For Hunter, it was massive," he said.

"I had a chat with him in the sheds after. He now knows that he can compete at that level. He went toe to toe with one of the biggest forward packs in the competition.

"A couple of counter-ruck turnovers, 14 tackles in the game, that kid can play.

"So for someone like him, I'm sure he'll bounce in differently today than he has in the past because he knows he's a Super Rugby player."