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Bernard Foley pulled the strings and Israel Folau scored twice for the NSW Waratahs in a record 52-41 defeat of Queensland featuring 15 tries.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Reds 41
Waratahs 52
The Reds hosts the Waratahs Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7:45pm AEST.
After a solid performance last week at Suncorp Stadium, Brad Thorn, the Tongan Thor and company are back!
A couple of months ago, Daryl Gibson’s boys dished a four-try shellacking to the Queenslanders, whose defence was exposed.
That game was also the emergence of the Waratahs’ deadly and diverse mix of speed and power in their backs and backrow.
That game spurred the rise of Taqele Naiyaravoro and Curtis Rona as prominent weapons, along with the point scoring ability of “no-name backrows” in Will Miller and “the other Michael” Wells.
This is supplemented by a top-shelf scrum and lineout, the importance of which cannot be understated.
This is the second time this year the two coaches, both former Crusaders, will face each other. Last week they both narrowly lost to a Kiwi team. This week both will be hungry and desperate to win.
The Reds have not won against the Waratahs for a good part of the past decade. Brad Thorn also wants his flyhalf in the making, Hamish Stewart, to continue the winning streak. The last time Hamish started at flyhalf, they beat South Africa conference leader – the Lions.
The “Tahs” want to bounce back from a bitter loss last week and consolidate their run to the finals. They will aim to play well enough to beat the Crusaders or the Chiefs or the Hurricanes during eliminations. They will see this game as part of this journey.
Prediction
It will be a re-run of their last match. While the Reds dominate in size, the Waratahs have been the better attackers – and latest rules of Rugby will reward the faster/better attackers.
Both sides have improved since their last matchup. This should be a closer match, with a New South Wales win, as the bookies have predicted.
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.