The Waratahs, following their 13-all draw with the Stormers at a very wet Newlands at the weekend, now face the prospect of a perilous trip to Brisbane and encounter with their bogey team — the Reds.

While the Waratahs have their destiny in their own hands — currently in third place and a good shot at a home semifinal — the Reds are no pushovers, despite their lowly 11th place on the standings.

The Reds showed their true colours when the Crusaders required a late score for a fortuitous 27-21 win at the weekend, something the 'Tahs took note of.

But more important, the Waratahs have managed just two wins in six Super Rugby visits to Brisbane — one win in their last four visits.

Not surprising then to hear Waratahs captain Phil Waugh speak of the need to be "mentally tuned" for the game in Brisbane, rather than being physically ready.

"It is about attitude and making sure we're mentally right," Waugh said at the weekend, when asked to reflect on the all-Australian derby

"We'll probably have a pretty light week [in training] this week and just make sure we're mentally there next week," he added.

Reds better than their position

He acknowledged that the physical nature of their two-match trip to South Africa — losing 13-16 to the Bulls in Pretoria and drawing 13-all with the Stormers in Cape Town — will be a factor when they face up to the Reds.

"Also, the Reds are a lot better team than they are on the table [11th]," Waugh said.

"They've been pretty unlucky last few weeks. Plus, they always lift themselves for this game against us... it's their last game [of the season] obviously and they want something out of it."

The Waratahs captain admitted that his team will need to "keep improving" to win games and move forward towards the play-off stages of the competition.

"This game [against Reds] is a must win for us," he said.

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie echoed similar sentiments.

"We have done well to put ourselves in a strong position [third] in the competition, but as everyone knows the top of the standings is pretty hot," McKenzie said when asked about the trip to Brisbane this week.

"Obviously we understand what local derbies are all about. We know it's a difficult venue to play at and we saw that [at the weekend] when they played the Crusaders, but if we're serious about the competition we have to go there and win."

Failure to convert

Both Waugh and McKenzie said that while a draw — against the Stormers at the weekend — was better than defeat, they were still disappointed at not getting a win on their trip to the Republic.

"I'm please we got a couple of points out of it and came back from behind, but we had plenty of advantage and didn't turn it into points," Waugh said.

"Our scrum and line-out work, as well as our defensive line, was excellent. We had possession, we did a lot of work and played pretty direct, but for whatever reason we couldn't get across the line."

He admitted that they were better equipped to play in the pouring rain, as they already had seven games in wet weather this season.

"We probably learnt by playing a lot of games in the wet this year and we've got some ability in that area."

McKenzie felt that his team employed the right tactics by playing with the ball in hand — rather than a kicking game like the Stormers.

"We wanted to play at them," McKenzie said.

"As much as we practice our kicking game, it is not the strongest part of our game. We wanted to play at them and test them, and tire them out. I thought we did that okay, but we didn't get the points."

Blaming the ref

Meanwhile, Waugh felt that New Zealand referee Lyndon Bray had erred in not awarding a penalty to his team in the last minute of their draw with the Stormers.

The incident took place well after the siren had sounded, when flank Rocky Elsom burst down the right to within 10 metres of the Stormers' tryline. Elsom passed the ball in the tackle only for an offside Stormer to tap it to ground, an infringement that Waugh felt should have been a long-arm penalty and the option of a shot at goal.

The Waratahs believe five-eighth Kurtley Beale would have kicked the penalty after watching him convert Lote Tuqiri's 69th-minute try from a more acute angle and further out.

"Rocky runs, is tackled, puts the ball infield and their whole team is offside," Waugh said.

"The ref puts his arm out for an advantage and gives us a free kick. All these things add up. They are critical plays in the game that change the competition."

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