Rugby-Foley set for return after studying from the sidelines

SYDNEY, March 24 (Reuters) - Wallabies flyhalf Bernard Foley, who looks set to make his Super Rugby return this weekend, thinks he might have learned a thing or two about the New South Wales Waratahs while sidelined with a knee injury. One win from three matches is not what Waratahs fans were hoping for to start the season and Foley's expected return to run the backline against the Queensland Reds on Sunday could not come at a better time. Australia's first choice playmaker in their stellar test season last year, Foley's skillset would appear perfectly suited to spark the high-tempo attacking game new coach Daryl Gibson has tried to introduce in Sydney this year. "I suppose watching on the sideline you get to see the game a bit differently," Foley told reporters on Thursday. "We've adapted and evolved the game from the last couple of seasons so getting an idea from the sidelines watching, asking questions, has probably allowed me to understand that style of play rather than going straight back in." The Waratahs give up a 30-0 lead to the defending champion Otago Highlanders last weekend before staging a late comeback with four unanswered tries that came up just short. Foley thinks that despite a second successive defeat, the 2014 Super Rugby champions had shown enough for there to be grounds for confidence going forward and, if anything, had been guilty of being too positive. "You can't question the hard work and the intent and the energy levels the Waratahs have (shown)," he said. "I suppose it's been a little bit to our own detriment. We've worked so hard to the point that we probably played into the Highlanders' hands trying to play so attacking. "I think with the leadership and the hard work we've done in this team it's probably setting us up well for the next couple of games." Foley's return will probably mean a shift to inside centre for Kurtley Beale, who combined so memorably with Foley for the stunning try that helped Australia beat England in the crunch pool clash at last year's World Cup. It was Foley's second try of the match in which he also kicked seven from seven from the tee, setting the tone for his outstanding tournament. In one regard, though, the Foley likely to run out at Lang Park on Sunday bears little resemblance to the clean-cut Wallaby during the World Cup thanks to a big bushy beard. "I'm actually looking forward to playing the game and then I can shave my beard off," Foley said. "I lost a bet so I had to keep the beard until I returned, so lucky it wasn't a six-month injury or something like that." (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Greg Stutchbury)