Waratahs go top after denying pugnacious Reds
By Darren Walton, 7 Mar 2009 Darren Walton is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Kurtley Beale, Mark McLinden, Rugby Union, Super Rugby, Sydney Football Stadium, Timana Tahu, Waratahs
The NSW Waratahs climbed to the top of the Super 14 ladder on Friday night with a stirring win over Queensland in a bruising interstate derby at the Sydney Football Stadium.
In a dour affair dominated by bonecrushing defence, rugby league convert Timana Tahu clinched an 15-11 victory for the Waratahs with a fine opportunist’s try 16 minutes from time.
With NSW trailing by a point, Tahu swooped on a spilt ball from Queensland winger Peter Hynes and raced almost 40 metres to score the match-winner.
The Waratahs’ 10th successive home win matched a streak last achieved between 1936-38 and gave Chris Hickey’s side a perfect four-from-four start to their 2009 campaign.
The Reds, though, were left to rue their fifth consecutive defeat in the annual grudge match after failing to convert their one-point halftime advantage into a much-needed second win of the season.
A try to Wallabies winger Peter Hynes 16 seconds before the break nudged the Reds ahead for the first time in the match and they looked like extending the lead in the 44th minute only for Waratahs flyer Lachie Turner to pull off a desperate trysaving tackle on Mark McLinden.
NSW enjoyed a dream start, crossing for the game’s opening try in just the fifth minute.
Test prop Benn Robinson – who was only cleared fit to play on Thursday – showed his worth to the team is not limited to scrum time when he burrowed over next to the posts to give the Tahs a 5-0 lead.
Kurtley Beale added the extras for 7-0 before Queensland halfback Ben Lucas narrowed the deficit to a point with penalty goals in the 17th and 20th minutes.
Another Beale penalty in the 32nd minute stretched NSW’s lead to four points before Hynes struck.
Despite enjoying the bulk of possession, the Waratahs were unable to breach the Reds’ resolute defence and regain the lead until Tahu made his mark.
During a spiteful post-match press conference, Queensland coach Phil Mooney claimed the Waratahs had looked “clueless” in attack and uncomfortable at having “to play rugby” when behind on the scoreboard.
Mooney’s thinly-veiled attack followed Queensland playmaker Quade Cooper’s mid-week sledge when he branded the Waratahs “boring” and the Reds Super 14 entertainers.
Waratahs captain Phil Waugh was only too happy to return fire after walking away with the four points, courtesy of the two-tries-to-one win.
“For an exciting rugby side who throws the ball around, they still only scored 11 points,” Waugh said, before taking personal aim at Mooney.
“He likes to talk a lot, Phil, doesn’t he?”
Waugh, though, conceded the Waratahs still had much to work on after failing to convert their clear domination into a more comfortable victory.
“It’s still a good win, but we made it tough on ourselves,” he said.
“It felt like we should have scored more points and should have beaten them by more.
“They were always in the game when they probably shouldn’t have been.”
© AAP 2012Recommend this story.
Jim Beam Devil's Cut
As bourbon ages, a portion of liquid is lost from the barrel due to evaporation. This is known as the Angel's Share. When the bourbon is taken from the barrel, a certain amount is left trapped within the wood. It's that extracted liquid, and the rich flavours from deep within the barrel that are in Jim Beam's Devil's Cut.
Click here to learn more about Jim Beam's wicked new bourbon.
March 7th 2009 @ 6:16am
LeftArmSpinner said | March 7th 2009 @ 6:16am | Report comment
I was out there, and can only agree with the Author’s assessment. It was a bruising encounter. Phil Waugh led by example, firstly with a bonecrusher on McLinden and then critical plays throughout the game.
He is playing his best rugby for years and is clearly revelling in the captaincy.
His assessment thgat they should h ave won by more is spot on, BUT, they won. Having said that, Turner blew a simple try opportunity in the second half after some very clever and skillful leadup work. He just had to fall on it over the line, but chose to try to pick it up!! That would have made the score 22-11 and closer to the expected result.
Beale showed us his toughness, getting up after several organ rattling tackles, particularly one from big, bad Leroy Houston.
On the other hand, Cooper had an error riddled game, due to his not understanding the nature of the game and playing too ritzy a game.
The game was won at the breakdown and in the set plays. The NSW pack dominated.
And finally, we rediscovered, thanks to Qld. that backline play, particularly from set pieces, can create tries. Their try just before half time was a beauty, resulting with Hynes going over in the corner untouched. Lets see the Australian S14 teams doing more of this.
March 7th 2009 @ 7:17am
craig said | March 7th 2009 @ 7:17am | Report comment
LAS – I am presuming you are a Tah supporter.. To suggest that Cooper had an “error filled game” is just incorrect. He had a space of about 10 – 15 inutes where he put to kicks out on the full that seemed to dent is confidence, but apart from that he was solid. He understood the game perfectly, QLD had no posession but he kept them in it with good field kicking for the corner especially in the first half. As for Beale, you have a good jinking runner who cannot pass. He seems to show no understanding of the game. The only passing he does is just shovelling it along the backline. The occasional inside ball that works seems to be more about the vision of the players around him and Beale just doing as he’s told. Tahs should move Burgess out, he is showing no improvement and apart from the odd run provides very little else. Beale is a half back with his jinking running and chip kick better suited to getting around tight forwards than loosies and backs. SNK into 5/8, LT into fullback, Matt Carraro or Ratu Nasiganiyavi onto the wing.
March 7th 2009 @ 7:27am
sheek said | March 7th 2009 @ 7:27am | Report comment
Leftie,
You were obviously only watching the one team. The Reds bombed several try scoring opportunities themselves with poor selection in direction, wayward passes & dropped ball.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the closeness of the scores & bruising defence, I would be wondering what these guys (both teams) do with all that free time. The basic skills of passing, catching & running lines was atrocious, to say the least. And do the Reds practice throwing & catching in the lineouts???
Was Beale wearing a big red cross last night? I counted at least two hospital passes he received.
Anyway, in the battle of the codes State-Of-Origin comparison, the leagueies would be laughing themselves silly. This was a bruising encounter, but little vintage rugby to get excited about.
March 7th 2009 @ 7:31am
Roger said | March 7th 2009 @ 7:31am | Report comment
As I watchd the game at ground last night, it seemed to me that Beale plays like a league halfback whereas Cooper plays like a union 5/8!
March 7th 2009 @ 7:53am
g-man said | March 7th 2009 @ 7:53am | Report comment
In response to previous comments:
- This was a hard game with some killer defense. Who cares what the league supporters think!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Phil Waugh had a great game and once again showed his value to Australian Rugby
- BOTH teams coughed up the ball….around 20 mistakes EACH. Robbie Deans will be sweating on an improvement here come June
- The QLD forward pack lost SEVEN of their own lineout throws!!!! Someone please tell me how Hardman was the back up Wallaby hooker last year?
- Quade Cooper needs to stop jibbering about ‘playing exciting rugby’ and get his team to train more. Seriously, their set pieces were abysmal and they lack the flair and skills to run it from their own try line. Last night, Cooper ensured his team ‘lost ugly’.
- Lachlan Turner showed why he should at least be in the Wallaby squad come June.
- QLD, for all their talk, will once again languish at the bottom of the S14 table. Lets hope the Wallaby selectors can get politics out of the way and minimise the impact these imposters will have on the Wallaby squad.
March 7th 2009 @ 8:18am
True Tah said | March 7th 2009 @ 8:18am | Report comment
I almost fell off my seat when I saw Beale got reported for a dangerous tackle!
I thought the defence was outstanding, with Beale copping a few big hits – however final execution was pretty poor and I thought ball security was hopeless with too many turnovers, the Reds lineout was pathetic.
March 7th 2009 @ 9:20am
shan said | March 7th 2009 @ 9:20am | Report comment
fa out entertaining match lolz. the tahs have said to had a boring game in the last few rounds but last night they ripped it up, but the reds i think their coming out as one of the teams to watch this year especially wit their entertaing risky play its never boring especially cos quade copper has lead this team well this year, good to c young talent taking control of the game, hopefully these teams make it far this. good defence by both sides.
March 7th 2009 @ 9:45am
sledgeandhammer said | March 7th 2009 @ 9:45am | Report comment
Qld probably should have won, and for the majority of the match Cooper played outstanding rugby – great kicking and passing in particular. Didn’t overplay his hand, or try to run too often. In the end the Waratah pack had the edge in the set pieces, and with a big dose of luck came away winners.
March 7th 2009 @ 10:00am
Rob said | March 7th 2009 @ 10:00am | Report comment
Gee, I’m frustrated with referees. Last week saw a game where Leckie stopped quick taps because they weren’t taken within 2 cm of the mark. Last night Qld won the scrum, the half was close to having the ball in his hands , the front row collapsed and he blew it up to be reset. The ball was out for crying out loud. The scrum reset collapsed , penalty to NSW, NSW take 3 points. I know some of the refs like Leckie were probably the school nerd who now gets his rocks off bossing around internationals but I expected better from this bloke last night.
March 7th 2009 @ 10:04am
True Tah said | March 7th 2009 @ 10:04am | Report comment
Rob
agree that the refs ares pretty friggin pedantic when it comes to the mark and short-arms – I mean who gives a rats if its 15cm from the mark – I sometimes wish the refs were a little more prescriptive in that sense.