NSW coach Chris Hickey empathises with the Waratahs' frustrated fans and is demanding improvement from his side in Saturday night's Super 14 hosting of the Lions.

The Waratahs came under fire for winning ugly in their opening home game of the season against the Sharks last Saturday, with Hickey on Monday admitting there were no excuses for some of the schoolboy errors the SFS crowd had to endure.

The mistake-riddled 25-21 win was in stark contrast to their at-times scintillating attacking display against the defending champion Bulls the previous weekend in Pretoria.

"You can talk about the humidity and the slippery ball, but the fact is we had a number of handling areas and they were errors that we made and they really broke our attacking momentum," Hickey said.

"What the fans are looking for is skilful football and against the Bulls I think we showed what we're capable of doing, but we were probably a bit disappointed in our performance on Saturday night.

"The other key thing on Saturday night was probably our inability to win a kick-off.

"We'd score and then straight away find ourselves on the back foot in our quarter in a defensive situation trying to work out of there."

The Waratahs spent much of Monday's training session addressing their re-start woes.

"Technically, we need to get there a little bit quicker, we need to set a little bit earlier and then that takes the pressure off the catcher," Hickey said.

Star playmaker Berrick Barnes, who on Monday announced he'd signed a contract extension that will keep him at the Waratahs until the end of the expanded 2011 Super 15 season, was unconcerned about the side's indifferent form.

"This competition has shown that no matter what team you're playing, you're going to have to grind out the odd win," Barnes said.

"No matter what it looked like the other night, it was like playing with a cake of soap out there.

"So what we tried against the Bulls in good conditions probably didn't work so much in our favour the other night.

"We'll be trying to play as best we can, expansively, but obviously it's what the opposition does and how the conditions are that determines what we're going to play."

Barnes was also unfazed about some fans booing the `Tahs for their sloppy display against the Sharks.

"I heard them cheering us when we won, so that's all that matters," he said.

"When you're two from four ... obviously this is a place that's a success and has a culture of winning and, when you're not, people are going to have some stuff to say.

"But we've got a strong core group of players here and we're confident in the direction we're heading.

"We've just got to get everyone else on board, haven't we."

Hickey pointed out that all three teams which returned from South African stints struggled at the weekend, with the Brumbies recording a tough 24-13 home win over the winless Lions and the previously unbeaten Chiefs suffering a shock 24-18 loss to Queensland in Hamilton.

"That travel back does impact on your performance," Hickey said.

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