In what could only be considered a reoccurrence of last year’s efforts, new recruits Israel Folau and Michael Hooper could do nothing to stop the Waratahs from falling on their own sword and losing abysmally to the ACT Brumbies, 35-6.
From the first minute of play, the Waratahs were already demonstrating they had not improved on last week’s problem of discipline and were three points down after a penalty for not releasing was converted.
It became an on-going theme for the next ten minutes, with the Tahs soon trailing 9-0 at the ten-minute mark.
The Waratahs were lacklustre in attack, struggled in defence and failed to put the pressure on the Brumbies at the restarts.
It was a penalty for collapsing the scrum that allowed the Tahs onto the scoreboard, trailing the Brumbies 9-3 at the 15-minute mark; these would be the only Waratahs points until a penalty on the halftime siren.
The Waratahs attack was constantly hindered by dropped balls and poor passes, as well as George Smith’s ability to turn the ball over in the ruck.
Constantly losing the ball, the Waratahs found themselves on the back foot and a dropped ball in their back line lead to a Brumbies kick down field, resulting in Ben Volavola being penalised five metres from the try line.
The Brumbies easily pushed over the Waratahs defence at the lineout and Ben Mowen was over the line, scoring the first try of the match, making the score 14-3 at the 26-minute mark.
Continuing the theme, the Waratahs were unable to gain appropriate metres with penalty kicks and struggled to break the Brumbies strong defensive line.
Yet again the Waratahs failed to hold onto the ball in the ruck and their discipline continued to hinder the side, with the Brumbies using opportunity.
With the Brumbies continually finding holes in the Waratahs defence, Jesse Mogg soon sent Christian Lealiifano over the line with a chip kick through the Waratahs backline.
The score was getting further out of the Waratahs’ reach, now trailing 21-3 at the 34-minute mark.
The Waratahs’ comedy of errors could not be stopped, missing almost every opportunity presented to them. With several penalties awarded to them, the Waratahs never got themselves in a good enough position to score points.
It was not until the 40-minute that the Waratahs earned more points, kicking a penalty, bringing them to the halftime break down 21-6.
With what could only be considered the weekly ‘Michael Cheika Talk’, the Waratahs were to return to the field like every other week, energised and ready to win back the match. This week they failed to even do this, not scoring a point the whole second half.
The Waratahs could not make metres, constantly stopped by the strong Brumbies defence and were unable to convert the Brumbies continuous penalties into points.
For more than 20 minutes both teams struggled to win points, with the Waratahs attacking effort constantly hindered by their poor ball skills, and the Brumbies’ loose play.
However, by the 70-minute mark, the Brumbies had once again won the ball from the Waratahs and were making their way to the line.
The Waratahs scrambling defence ended with Ben Robinson being yellow carded for a professional foul, as well as Brumbies player Ben Alexander for stomping.
Only minutes later the Brumbies pounced on the Waratahs poor handling skills and were finding gaps in the defence, with Henry Speight finding the line and pushing the lead out further to 28-6.
By the last minutes of the game the Waratahs were lacking any attacking flare and a chip kick by Folau only ended with Jesse Mogg catching the ball and finding gaps downfield.
Robbie Coleman then received the offload and at the 78-minute mark and the score was 35-6.
If the Waratahs are to win at all this season a return to basics is urgently needed, as dropped balls and failed passes are only hindering a side that has potential.
Hopefully by Friday the Waratahs will have improved enough to give the fans something to cheer about.
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