The NSW Waratahs are desperately hoping a change of scenery can finally fix their case of the dropsies as they face three must-win Super 14 games in South Africa.

Captain Phil Waugh was livid and coach Chris Hickey, usually one of the game's most jovial, ashen-faced after the Waratahs' 15-14 loss to the Western Force at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday night, a defeat which continued the side's plummet down the ladder.

After beginning the season with four straight wins, the Waratahs now sit sixth, having lost four of their last six games.

They sit one point ahead of the Brumbies, who have lost one less match than NSW, and will slip further behind next weekend when they have their bye, which carries no competition points.

The Waratahs will rest until Wednesday and fly to South Africa on Saturday to close their regular season realistically needing to win all three matches against the Cheetahs, Sharks and Lions.

"We've made life hard for ourselves," Hickey said.

"But we're fortunate we've got the bye this week so that gives a chance to recover a little bit and refresh before we get over there.

"It just means we're going there to win three games, that's all.

"Sometimes I think being on tour can be good. It gets you away from a lot of extra duties and responsibilities that you have to fulfil while you're here and it brings the team close together.

"So it can be a positive thing and we have to make it a positive thing."

Waugh, who delivered his side a post-match spray on Saturday after fundamental errors cost them dearly, still managed to describe the upcoming tour as "exciting".

"If you're going to perform in this competition and you're going to win this competition, you need to win big games at the back end of the season," he said.

"We've got the team here to win the competition but if you leave that many points out on the field we won't win another game this year.

"But if you start to hold those passes, then we'll win the next three games."

While happy the bye has finally arrived, Hickey refused to blame his side's 10 straight games for the loss to the Force.

"If we weren't creating opportunities and we were getting beaten at our set piece and things like that then you could perhaps look to fatigue as an excuse, but none of those things are happening," he said.

"You just can't step away from responsibility of executing basic skills well on the field. It's as simple as that.

"Coaching, it's something that we do work on ... at the end of the day, players have to take responsibility for their performance as well."

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