Former NRL back Reece Robinson produced a near-perfect kicking display as NSW Waratahs slogged their way to a 19-13 Super Rugby opening-round win over Western Force on Saturday.
Both teams scored one try in wet and slippery conditions which produced plenty of mistakes and few flowing passages of play.
The Tahs trailed 13-9 at the break, but scored 10 unanswered points to secure the win, with Force picking up a bonus point.
Robinson, kicking because Wallabies five-eighth Bernard Foley was absent due to concussion, landed four penalties and converted Will Skelton’s 44th minute try.
His only miss came from a penalty attempt right on the siren.
Five-eighth and former Waratah Jono Lance scored all of the Force’s points, scampering over for their try following good work from No.8 Richard Hardwick and halfback Ryan Louwrens close to the Tahs line.
Wallabies forwards Tolu Latu and Will Skelton were strong performers for NSW.
Waratahs strike weapon Israel Folau barely touched the ball while his opposite number and former NRL star Curtis Rona also got little opportunity to show his attacking prowess.
NSW established an early 6-0 lead after 12 minutes, with the Force giving away five penalties in the first 12 minutes.
As the half progressed, it was the Tahs who became undisciplined and gave away penalties and the Force forwards became more assertive and did well in the set pieces.
The Tahs had Wallabies prop Sekope Kepu sin-binned in the 23rd minute after his side committed a number of breakdown penalties.
Skelton regained the lead for NSW, four minutes into the second half, when he bumped off Rona and crashed over to score, as NSW quickly took a penalty close to the Force line.
NSW enjoyed a good period in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but Skelton’s converted try was their only tangible reward.
Rona did get the crowd going early with a lifting tackle on Waratahs flanker Jack Dempsey.
Force hooker Tatafu Poltoa-Nau, who amassed more than 140 caps for NSW, came off the bench in the 50th minute, but the NSW scrum immediately pressured the Force into conceding a penalty.
Hardwick was sin-binned with just more than a minute left for a dangerous tackle on Israel Folau, but both sides struggled to create try-scoring chances.
RubberLegs
Guest
Good point: Rona's contact with the ball in the in-goal area then. Replays make interesting viewing; It was a moment when Rob Horne looked fast/good.
Marto
Guest
Pathetic attendance!! No suprises from Horratah supporters..At least the woeful reds managed 15015, and we scored 4 tries..
DCR
Guest
It was a game expected in round 1 in drizzle in Sydney. I was impressed by Simone at 12. He was pretty good in the tough stuff. Latu was very good. Hegarty pretty limited, kicked a lot, but hard to judge a 10 in such conditions. The ref and scrum penalties. Sacre bleu. There will be much sterner tests ahead. The Force have a reasonable spine, but were really relying on tah mistakes and they were few enough in number to keep them at bay. Hopefully there will be better conditions next time and we can really see where the Tahs are.
Rugby Floss
Roar Rookie
Yes gutted our boys weren't able to stand up and get the win. Didn't feel that they deserved it with some basic errors and bad discipline, but also didn't feel like we were greatly outplayed by the mighty Tahs. Falou completely silenced by Rona to the point that I forgot he was even playing, and Louwrens made Phipps look...well...like Phipps.... Coleman now has a real presence on the field. Pity the game wasn't played over here in Perth on a lovely warm dry evening.....
Johnny
Guest
Crowd was embarrassing. All Aussie crowds have been embarrassing.
piru
Roar Rookie
The Force will be disappointed in not putting this one away - but in conditions like that the bounce of the ball and luck plays a big part. Meakes and Rona did a great job shutting down ball to Folau to the point I was starting to wonder if he was on the field at all. I thought overall the Force pack were better man for man, with the exception of hooker. Four debutants in the side and none embarrassed themselves, I would have liked a W (and I daresay the Force thought it was within reach) but we've had worst first rounds.
MelR
Guest
Agree with what's been said thus far. Yeah, Force surprised a few people. The Tahs were lucky to win. The Force will be better for the experience. Good first game for both teams, considering the weather. Kudos to the Force coaching team the depth of the bench certainly looked good.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Latu - I told you so. I said he would push ahead of Moore this year (if he hasn't already) and was scoffed at. Taf looked a bit embarrassed to be playing against the Tahs. He'll improve. Dempsey and Folau couldn't really get into the game much, but will have good seasons. Re the scrum - it struggled when Roach came on and Robertson went to TH. Didn't they trust Lolohea? I didn't think Ryan was the issue. Assuming Fitzpatrick can scrum, we need him fit soon.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
The Force have always given the Tahs a tough time early on in the season, they will be happy to get the win and move on to South Africa. Plenty to work on particularly the scrum. That said Latu was terrific whilst Big Willie was pretty solid along with Hooper. Not a game for the backs to shine. Well done Robinson with his 5 from 6 effort.
jameswm
Roar Guru
"Rona’s try" - you mean the one where Horne clearly tuched it down and Rona was near him?
Craigo
Guest
Anyone know what last nights crowd was? Looks about 5000
RubberLegs
Guest
The ref gave the Force a lesson on the rules. The ref tortured them in the last ten minutes. Why wasn't the Rona's try reviewed - did he and Horne touch down simultaneously? TPN's line-out throwing won the game for the Tahs; how can he throw the ball out of Coleman's reach.
Blackfish
Roar Rookie
Disappointing conditions OK. Just as disappointing to watch. Tahs should have pounded the Force and apart from Latu the whole bunch were uninteresting. Need a coach with a hefty cattle prod to get this lot going. Cannot see any improvement at all from Tahs, so lets just blame the rain this week.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Went to the game and was going to write something very similar to Cynical, beat me to the punch. Let was named man of the match and probably deserved it. But I wasn't surprised, thought he was coming up well last year. Skeleton was a pleasant surprise. Aside from a few dropped balls, he was very good, good carries, good presence. I couldn't see his line out work from the stands, someone who saw it on TV can better adjudicate. But as an overall performance it looked very good. Robinson is an interesting case - his kicking technique, even the way he places the ball on the tee, is very different. But it doesn't matter if he gets the results, and yesterday he kicked 5/6 in difficult conditions. Ref did slow the games down, when it was destined to be slow already under the conditions. The fact he didn't give a yellow for the neck tackle on Hooper is beyond belief. I'm happy with the starting front row, but when the subs came on every single scrum collapsed, we gave away three or four penalties for that. Yes, conditions were slippery, but Kepu and Robinson managed to stay on their feet. All this said, the game was a scrappy, dour affair, riddled with handling errors. Conditions and rust didn't help, but still it does need to get much better than this.
Cynical Play
Roar Rookie
Always hard to extrapolate from the first game of the season, especially with a greasy pigskin, but here is what I took away from it. Force are a better team already this year. Coleman is the best lock in the country. Latu is a revelation. He stole more ball than Pocock would, and gave no ground to TPN when he came on. Skelton may just have turned the corner. Looked like a more mature game from him. Tahs have some belief, didn't panic. Robinson should be the kicker when Foley returns. Let Foley just be the 10. Hooper is becoming a great captain. Measured on and off the field. Already better than Moore in that regard. All on-field decisions were correct. And speaks well to the ref. Inspirational. The Ref needs work (who was he?). He was sucked into giving a penalty form almost every scrum when all that was happening was that the ground was slippery. He also missed some fairly blatant foul play I thought from the Force nos 7 and 12. He failed to award a fairly clear Tahs try and didn't go upstairs. Maybe try Izzie at 12 some plays. He hardly saw the ball. Would love to see Jake Gordon on the bench instead of 'blondie' All NZ teams looked immediately sharper than all Oz teams this round.
Boonzie
Guest
Ref choked the life out of that game... If the tahs and force were a bit rusty... The ref pure oxide !
jameswm
Roar Guru
Typical banana skin game for Tahs - happy with the W.
Dontcallmeshirley
Guest
A turgid game of rugby. Both teams will get better.