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The Waratahs have looked far from convincing for a better part of the last two seasons under Micheal Chieka’s guidance. Good wins have been punctuated by a lack of consistency that comes with a team that undergoes major changes while searching for self belief.
The Waratahs have no need to continue to search after their 41-13 gutting of the Lions. They shifted to second on the Australian conference with a bonus point win courtesy of five tries.
With the Wallaby squad to be named this week, individuals in the outfit were looking to make a statement that puts those doubts to rest. Employing a well-structured game the Waratahs’ backs scored all the tries as forwards controlled the contact area.
Bernard Foley drew first blood from his scalp and the scoreboard after he wriggled through the Lions defence in the 10th minute after four waves of Waratah attacks. He then converted his try as the continuation of what was a blistering night for the fly half, racking up 21 points and a perfect night with the boot both in goal kicking reaping the rewards from training with All Black great Andrew Mehrtens.
The Lions immediately rallied to barrel roll a maul over in the other end. The Waratah big men have no need to grow any more in size with behemoths Will Skelton and Wycliff Palu in their ranks. But the forwards have continued to grow in stature and they combined well with the inside backs early on to tenderise the opposition’s defensive line. Skelton showed that being 15 kilograms heavier than Jonah Lomu makes a difference in the contact area and sapped the energy from the Lions defensive line with an ever present kinetic threat in the midfield and breakdown.
Foley and Beale have shown that they are developing into a world class 10-12 combination, and at the 20 minute mark as they combined beautifully from a planned grubber that left defenders clueless; Beale touching the ball under the posts taking the score to 17-10. Foley will surely be considered the form Australian number 10 in the competition with such a complete display and the injury sidelining Quade Cooper makes this combination a tasty option for selectors..
The Lions were penned in as they attempted to run the ball from an improved Waratahs defensive line. Some poor handling errors from the ‘Tahs turned the ball over before half time and the Lions pegged them back to 17 – 13 at the break.
Lions showed their inexperience and lack of an alternate game plan as the game wore on, they continued to try and run the ball, 450 running meters. Having only won one of the last 16 games on the road, it is clear that their management have to find a better way of tackling away games.
If you were unfortunate enough to get in the wrong beer queue at half time, you would have missed the window of play in the opening eight minutes which the Waratahs ruthlessly wrenched the game from the Lions’ fingers as they ran in two well-constructed tries for Rob Horne and Adam Ashley-Cooper. At 31-13 and a bonus point in the bag it would have been understandable if they took their foot off the gas.
The Waratahs played looser and faster in the last half hour and tested their opposition around the field.
Rob Horne had his best game of the season and best game on the wing. Always a solid defender, he showed a level of assertiveness in his attacking game scoring his first try in impressive fashion with thirty meters out and plenty of work to go. He went over again just before full time to remind selectors of this wasn’t a fluke.
The final score of 41 – 13 did justice to a very dominant and entertaining performance by the men in blue in front of their home crowd. There was a maturity do this performance which may even silence the cynics. Skelton, Palu, Robinson, Foley and Horne stood out when it mattered.
It will be interesting to see where they figures in McKenzie’s plans this week.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.