UPDATE: The Waratahs threw themselves into the Super Rugby AU finals on Saturday evening with a 45:12 shellacking of the Reds.
In a weekend full of surprises, the Waratahs beat the Rebels’ surprise victory over the Brumbies on Friday night with complete dominance and a record win of 33 points.
While some pundits might have taken a win at Waratahs, it would have been a brave person to have predicted five unanswered attempts in the first half from a team with only one win of the season and such a broad bottom line.
The Reds only managed two tries for the game, a goal in the 53rd minute against Jack Hardy and an attempt against James O’Connor in the 81st minute, but that was far too little and too late in a game in which they lacked energy and execution.
Queensland coach Brad Thorn has praised his team’s ticker all season but they haven’t been able to match the level of performance they’d shown in previous weeks when they ran out at SCG.
Just two days ago, Waratah’s trainer Rob Penney was asked if he was still enjoying his first year in the business after a grim return to the profit and loss book.
After the record win on Saturday night, the second highest score they achieved in Super Rugby against the Reds, Penney’s enjoyment factor is beyond question.
After the game, Penney said the display reflected tremendous confidence in his team, but their work was far from finished.
“It’s a group of young men who are starting to find their place,” he said.
“As a coaching group, we haven’t changed too much and we just really noticed that the players took a small step forward in terms of their belief and confidence in what we were trying to do.”
“Basically, I think exactly the right thing.”
“Our challenge next week is to make sure we can keep the momentum.”
Reds manager Brad Thorn said he was somewhat happy with the way his team played in the second half, but complained about the lack of energy from the start.
“The guys just weren’t there from the start and the Waratahs were there and it got away (from us),” he said.
“What can I take out of the game? I said to the boys at halftime that you can’t change what just happened, we have to make a decision, Liam said the same thing.
“It’s a proud team and the guys were fighting. It wasn’t nice and the Waratahs made some changes, so did we, so there is a bit of a difference there.
“To make something of it, it could have been uglier even in the second half, but the boys came 12-7.”
It was a win that tied them on points with the Reds and let NSW skip their fierce rivals on the Super Rugby AU ladder to third place and straight into the race for the playoffs.
Waratah’s halfback Jake Gordon had a hat trick after half an hour and while the hosts let it rain, he tried before it physically rained in the second half.
The rookie hooker Tom Horton, the hillbilly Jack Dempsey and the substitute skipper Michael Hooper were also outstanding, while the wingers James Ramm and Alex Newsome added their highlights with important engagements.
When the sky opened and the clock ticked the Reds started shooting, but when Waratah’s whore crossed Tom Horton in the 52nd minute the game was truly decided.
For the Waratahs everything seemed to go perfectly for most of the night, but for the Reds almost every touch was a mistake.
The lineout in Queensland was shaky again, their handling was poor and the tenacity they had shown in the other weeks was seriously poor.
Brandon Paenga-Amosa crashed a five-meter lineout, obliterating the Reds’ first serious scoring opportunity.
The Waratahs made them pay for Gordon’s first attempt at finishing a clever James ramm-chip kick to score the first try of the night.
Queensland tried to pounce on a Waratahs mistake with Liam Wright sales, but a Filipo Daugunu kick-off put an end to its hopes for a coast-to-coast result.
Gordon had a double in the 17th minute, was quick to bet, shot through a gap in the Red’s defense to score under the post and gave NSW a 17-point advantage.
Jock Campbell, who was transferred to the wing after Jordan Petaia’s late retirement, left the game with a suspected head blow not long after Gordon’s attempt.
A stormy Dempsey run brought Jack Maddocks over the line and in the 25th minute the Waratahs were 24 points ahead.
Suddenly Gordon had a hat trick and NSW had 31 unanswered points in half an hour.
The Waratahs weren’t quite finished, however, and by halftime Newsome had made five tries in the first 40 with a very athletic player in the corner.
Queensland brought a little more fire in the second half, but her execution still left much to be desired and as the minutes passed her task became simply insurmountable.
Horton sealed the result with a goal in the 52nd minute and Hardy, who joined the Reds team late, fell over the finish line in the 54th minute to eventually break Queensland’s duck.
The Waratahs continued to pepper the Queensland line but failed to add to their balance sheet despite an increasing number of penalties in their favor.
Zane Nonggorr was sent off after a second half, in which the guests conceded 12 penalties on just three goals.
An 81st-minute penalty gave Queensland a chance for consolation and James O’Connor slipped through a gap to score.
That final result gave the Reds the advantage in the second half, but that was the only thing they could hold on to.
Queensland donned black armbands to honor teammate Jordan Petaia, who stayed at home after his father’s sudden death.
The Waratahs take on the armed forces this weekend, while the Reds take on the rebels in Brisbane.
RESULT
Waratahs 45
Tries: Gordon 3, Maddocks, Newsome, Horton
Disadvantage: Harrison 5, Donaldson
Pencils: Harrison
Red 10
Tries: Hardy, O’Connor
Disadvantage: O’Connor
