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It will be a match few remember, but for Darren Coleman the Waratahs’ 12-10 loss to the Blues at home on Saturday night could prove more significant than first meets the eye.
After last week’s heartbreaking two-point loss to the Highlanders, the Waratahs once again went down by two points for the second straight week against New Zealand opposition.
Rubbing salt into the wound, it was a match ripe for the picking as the wasteful Blues blew chance after chance.
The Waratahs gave themselves one late opportunity of stealing the match when debutant hooker Jay Fonokalafi, who was pouring concrete just days ago, got on the end of a rolling maul to score and help cut the margin to less than a penalty in the 80th minute.
But another mistake with the home side’s attacking cleanout, where replacement back-rower Anton Segner got on the ball, saw Jordan Way penalise the Waratahs. Game. Set. Match.
Charlie Gamble was the Waratahs’ best but it wasn’t enough as they went down to the Blues at Allianz Stadium, on March 16, 2024, in Sydney. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
Waratahs skipper Jake Gordon lamented his side’s inability to put the Blues to the sword but took comfort in knowing that they were making steady improvements even if the results weren’t there yet.
“To be fair, I think we’re a completely different team to we were this time last year,” he said.
“It’s a loss, we’re competing hard, we’re defending well, when we get quick ball we’re hard to handle, we just need to take those opportunities when they come.”
One of the positives out of the loss is that the Waratahs’ defence did dig in.
“We spoke about going to Tah Tough,” Gordon said.
“I think we’re making massive improvements there from that first trial. We’re expecting the more we play the sharper we’ll get, it’s just come to quicker.”
Whether it leads Coleman one step closer to be walked to the plank remains to be seen, but after being given until the end of March to prove his credentials, the Waratahs, who are one win from their opening four matches, now have a daunting task ahead of them with a trip to Fiji and Canberra ahead of them.
Coleman said he was confident the Waratahs were on the right track.
“The biggest difference between now and this time last year is we’re playing better footy,” he said.
“We were getting pumped by those teams last year. This time we can walk away thinking one or two things [change] and we win that game.
“Disappointed but proud of the boys in how they hung in … Philosophical, disappointed but excited.”
He added that he had no issues around the early decision date surrounding his future at the franchise beyond 2024, saying he “trusted the board”.
Charlie Gamble was the Waratahs’ best, with the openside flanker rewarded with a couple of crucial penalty breakdown wins.
Punchy centre Izaia Perese was also excellent in the defeat, regularly getting over the gain line and looking a constant threat in attack.
After blowing away the Waratahs 41-12 at Eden Park in last year’s quarter-final, the two-point victory was the Blues’ 10th straight over the Waratahs.
As much as the Waratahs will be left ruing what might have been, the Blues left more than a dozen points out on the field with playmaker Stephen Perofeta having a nightmare match.
The New Zealand international missed three straight-forward penalties and a conversion, as well as booting a penalty kick for touch dead in goal.
All Perofeta could do was laugh at his nightmare evening, which was somewhat saved by a desperate trysaving tackle on Triston Reilly in the 65th minute as the Waratahs began their late push.
The visitors also had a try disallowed in both halves.
The Waratahs had much of the early running, but couldn’t take their opportunities as the Blues, who lost Rieko Ioane in the second minute to a concussion, turned over the ball three times in the opening six minutes.
It took until the 22nd minute for the first points to be notched, as Tane Edmed, who had a mixed night, banged over a penalty.
The Blues warmed into the contest nicely, but couldn’t turn pressure into points.
Eventually, All Blacks prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi crashed over from close range to score in the 35th minute.
The Waratahs missed an opportunity to take some momentum into half-time when they failed to score any points despite bashing away at the Blues’ tryline at the Paddington end.
That theme continued early in the second half, as the Waratahs continued to thwart the Blues.
It took until the 57th minute for the Blues to eventually strike, as fullback Zarn Sullivan crossed out wide.
Despite having only 30 per cent of territory midway through the second half, the tide started to change in the second half as the Waratahs sniffed an opportunity.
It closed when Miles Amatosero was pinged for failing to release with time up.
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