REACTION: 'The boys don't give up' - Blues ice another drop goal after the siren to sink Tahs

For a second week running the Auckland Blues kicked a drop goal after the siren to beat Aussie opposition with Zarn Sullivan nailing a long range stunner to sink the Waratahs 20-17 at Leichhardt.

Last week Beauden Barrett did the same to beat the Brumbies, and the Blues stretched their winning run to 13 straight – a club record. They were already assured of top spot and a quarterfinal against the Highlanders or Force.

The Waratahs will likely finish sixth and face the third-placed Chiefs in next week’s quarterfinals after the Brumbies shock loss earlier Saturday. The Tahs got a bonus point to go equal fifth with the Hurricanes who play later tonight, but the Canes’ points differential is clearly superior and would need a massive loss in Perth to slip to sixth.

“It’s a disappointing finish for us,” said Tahs skipper Jake Gordon. “We thought we started the second half really well, put some pressure on the Blues but we weren’t clinical in the last 20 minutes.”

Heading into the finals, Gordon said the team needed to improve around the breakdown.

“We had trouble dominating the collisions and when they fast ball especially in the 22 they were hard to contain.”

It was a triumph for the Blues’ depth – they made 14 changes to their starting line up from the Brumbies win and showed great spirit to fight back from 14-3 down with 15 minutes to play.

“It’s an awesome job by the boys – Super Rugby’s such a tough competition and you have to rely on the whole squad,” said Blues try scorer Luke Romano.

“There was a lot of talk about bringing a B team over but these boys put in the same amount of work as everyone else. They were given an opportunity and took it.

“The Tahs are an awesome team and it went down to the wire but the boys just don’t give up.

“Thirteen wins is awesome but the season’s not finished it would be devastating to undo all this hard work by losing in the first round of the finals.”

An early arm wrestle, which saw Tahs hooker Dave Porecki limp off, swung NSW’s way on 28 minutes when Gordon surged towards the tryline but was felled by high shot from Blues flanker Adrian Choat. Gordon was deemed to be falling into the tackle, saving Choat from red.

On the next play, All Black Akira Ioane was marched for 10, the victim of a team warning over repeated fouls.

The Tahs took a scrum but the Blues were immense, not for the first or last time, winning a relieving penalty, and soon after another penalty down the Tahs’ end led to the only points of the half.

“You look at turning points in a match and this is a big one,” said former Wallabies star Tim Horan on the Stan Sport halftime coverage.

“Defence wins matches and defence at scrum time is huge.

“Big moments in big games . . . The forward pack are getting through the advantage line but they’re just popping too many passes.”

“It was almost a given that the Tahs should score there,” added Allana Ferguson. “The Blues mindset was loud and clear on that one.”

At halftime, Tahs assistant Chris Whitaker said the team was “struggling to find our rhythm , we’re chipping away, we couldn’t quite find our shape. We made inroads then turned it over, slightly off our game.”

The Tahs changed tack in the second period, and scored two tries in seven minutes by going wide to the right corner.

Corey Evans of the Blues takes on the defence during the round 15 Super Rugby Pacific match between the NSW Waratahs and the Blues at Leichhardt Oval on May 28, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

With the first, Dylan Pietsch came off the left wing to throw a superb looping pass out to Nawaqanitawase  for a comfortable touch down.

Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui praised the impact of the Tokyo 7s Olympian.

“You see the brilliant core skills that Dylan Pietsch brings back from Australian 7s,” said Turinui. “It’s great adaptation from the Waratahs. The maul direct action hasn’t worked but sucking in defenders of the Blues has.

“Pietsch has been more and more involved in the second half, so much confidence from early touches in games . He’s done some great things for the Waratahs this season, you’d like to see more of those players make that transition if they’re good enough.”

The second try was even better, almost every tahs player involved before Michael Hooper offloaded to Nawaqanitawase , who needed an acrobatic finish.

At 14-3 it looked like the Tahs were coming home strongly over an inexperienced opponent but the Blues weren’t to be denied.

First Cameron Suafoa and then Romano, blood streaming down his face, bullocked over.

The Tahs were down 17-14 and Paddy Ryan looked to have blow a way back in with a forward pass. But from the ensuing scrum the Tahs won a penalty and Tane Edmed coolly converted to tie the game going into the final minute.

The Blues had the ball inside the Tahs 22 after the siren, just like a week earlier against the Brumbies, and on the 14th phase Sullivan drove his left foot strike through the uprights.