Skipper Phil Waugh insists "it's not panic stations" for NSW quite yet despite the Waratahs falling back to the pack with a disappointing 20-6 Super 14 loss to the Bulls on Saturday night.

In an eight-point swing against NSW, their first defeat in 12 matches at the SFS allowed the Bulls to join the Waratahs and Chiefs in equal second place on the competition table entering the five-week run to the playoffs.

The Waratahs, though, clearly have the worst draw of all the remaining finals contenders.

Their nightmare run after Saturday night's derby against the Western Force in Sydney includes a points-free bye weekend - during which they are guaranteed to lose ground on their rivals - and a three-game stint in South Africa, where wins are historically at a premium.

"It's not panic stations," Waugh said.

"We've just got to regroup, make sure we turn up next week and play footy."

Gutted to have suffered a last-second loss to the Hurricanes in Perth on Friday night to slip to 10th on the ladder, the Force will be desperate to keep their season alive against the Waratahs.

"So will we," Waugh said.

"It's going to be a big clash. It sets up the back-end of our season. It's irrelevant where they are (on the ladder), they'll turn up to play."

"At this level, there's often a often line between winning and losing and it's just that energy level that's the difference and it's fair to say the Bulls had the edge on us in that area.

The Waratahs had been hoping to up the tempo on Saturday and gain some momentum in the countdown to the playoffs.

Instead, they barely created a tryscoring opportunity as the Bulls' dour forwards and the relentless kicking of five-eighth Morne Steyn pinned the Waratahs to their own half for almost the entire 80 minutes.

Tries either side of halftime to winger Bryan Habana and prop Werner Kruger, plus a 10-point haul from Steyn, were enough to lift the Bulls to their fourth successive victory over the Waratahs.

Waugh admitted his side was mentally drained after a series of narrow wins over the opening rounds.

"It just felt like we didn't have the spark that we've had for the last eight weeks and that's a very important element for our team," he said.

NSW coach Chris Hickey, who pre-match had been talking up the Tahs' prospects of hosting a final, was playing down the significance of the lacklustre defeat.

"Any loss, particularly on a home game, is a little bit of a setback," Hickey said.

"It's a tough competition. It just means next week, our last home game in the competition rounds, there's a little bit more importance on winning that.

"It probably just means we go to Africa probably needing to at least pick up two out of three games to be sure of a place in the final four.

"But it's that close at the moment - there's 10 teams vying for those four positions - and the top six have all got to play each other two or three times over the next six weeks.

"So I think there's still a fair bit of movement in the table."

Waratahs centre Rob Horne (hamstring) is almost certain to miss the Force match, but winger Lachie Turner should be available despite breaking his nose against the Bulls.

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