NSW Waratahs coach Darren Coleman said he was "embarrassed" by their defeat to Super Rugby Pacific wooden-spooners Moana Pasifika, with a string of injuries adding to his woes ahead of a daunting quarter-final at Eden Park.
Their dead-rubber clash in Sydney on Saturday was supposed to be a fitting home farewell to long-time club servant Michael Hooper, who is exploring his options for next season.
But instead it turned into a horror show, with a physical Moana clocking their first win in 14 games to stun them 33-24 in a five-tries-to-four upset.
Coleman's team went into the game already guaranteed sixth place on the ladder and a last-eight clash on Friday in New Zealand against the Auckland Blues, but their confidence took a hammering.
"You've got that yucky feeling in the bottom of your stomach that you didn't perform there how you wanted. It was bad for Hoops to finish like that. It was bad for momentum into play-offs," Coleman said.
"It's hurting now. I am embarrassed now off the back of that.
"We had such a good opportunity with such a good crowd and what would have been a good event to finish on a high."
To make matters worse, skipper Jake Gordon suffered a suspected concussion and is likely to miss the Blues showdown.
Prop Harry Johnson-Holmes, centre Izaia Perese and back-rower Langi Gleeson are also in doubt after picking up injuries.
The Waratahs have a poor record in New Zealand and were thumped 55-21 by the Blues at Eden Park earlier in the season.
Coleman admitted he needed to quickly figure out how to turn the ship around after two straight defeats, with his side falling heavily to the Canterbury Crusaders the previous week.
"My job is to lick my wounds and then figure out how I'm going to get us out of it," he said.
"There's no doubt we'll have to be at our very best (against the Blues) and we'll have to have an incredible amount of effort and hustle and physicality to stay in it."
In contrast, the Blues head into the sudden-death match on the back of three consecutive victories, culminating with a gritty 16-9 win over the Otago Highlanders on Friday to secure their third-place finish.
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