Waratahs plan their surprises for final

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie plans to put on his thinking cap and come up with something different to upset the Crusaders in Saturday's Super 12 final.

And in an opening shot in the psychological warfare sure to play out during the week McKenzie claimed some of the Crusaders' play at the breakdown was close to the edge of the law and suggested they tailored their play to suit the style of whichever referee was appointed to their games.

McKenzie nominated the breakdown battle as a key area of the final.

"The breakdown will be very important ... Clearly the Crusaders study the referees closely and they definitely play to the referees and we saw an example the last time we played, they ran at the referee in our defensive line and created opportunities.

"I thought they played the breakdowns to the letter of the law, or the edge of the law last week, so they are clearly looking at the referees and playing the game.

"That's all credit to them, we try and do the same thing, but they are doing it better than most at the moment."

While the match looms as a classic confrontation between the tournament's most explosive attack and its meanest defence, the Crusaders have significantly improved in the latter department, conceding just four tries in their last three games.

The high-scoring Crusaders have achieved an impressive average winning margin of 24 points this season.

"The challenge is going to [be to] find a game plan that is going to challenge them," McKenzie said.

"Clearly they've been able to take on most teams this year and come out well on top, so the challenge for us is to come up with something that's possibly a little bit different."

McKenzie has employed very different game plans through the season, switching between conservative and enterprising styles of play - and hoped that lack of predictability might confuse the Crusaders.

The Crusaders scored a 33-27 win over the Waratahs in Sydney back in round six in early April.

"I thought they just outpointed us in a couple of simple areas, and some of those things are just strategy, some are just an experience factor, but I think we'll be better prepared this time around because we've had a look at them," McKenzie said.

Asked if he would contemplate changes to his staring line-up, McKenzie said he would take a close look at the team to see if there was anything that might give his team an edge.

- AAP