Updated ,first published
The Waratahs may play one more game next Saturday against the Force in Perth, but their Super Rugby season essentially ended on Friday night, losing 21-14 to the Brumbies in Sydney.
It is deja vu for the Waratahs. Defeat against the Brumbies means they will almost certainly fail to reach the Super Rugby Finals for the fourth consecutive year, barring a mathematical miracle.
The Waratahs made an admirable comeback from 21-0, the problem was that it started at 62 minutes through an Isaac Kailea try. NSW had 58 per cent of the possession in the game, made almost twice as many post-contact metres as the Brumbies, but they failed to make it count on the scoreboard.
Waratahs coach Dan McKellar is close to finishing his second season at Daceyville and believes that progress has been made under his tenure, despite failing to reach finals again.
“I think we’ve made huge progress, a lot of which the public can’t see, it’s within the four walls of the building,” McKellar said.
“You’ve got to understand when we took over this group, it was a group that had come last [in Super Rugby].”
“We’re really lacking in a lot of key areas to perform consistently at this level. We’ve made a lot of change, but we’re on the right track,” McKellar continued.
“We’re far from where we need to be, but progress is not always through results. [I] understand that we need to get results.”
Asked if he would do anything differently reflecting on this year, McKellar said he would review at the end of the season.
“I’m not going to be chopping and changing. I’ve got a way I go about doing things and I think that it works,” McKellar said.
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. I’m not going to listen to every voice that’s out there or start listening to people outside the building, because if I do that, then I’ll be sitting with them. So that won’t be happening.”
This game was a microcosm of the Waratahs season. A huge amount of potential, ultimately stifled by inaccuracy and ill-discipline.
Out of contract, Waratahs playmaker Jack Bowen got his second start of the season, playing beside his childhood friend and halves partner Teddy Wilson. Their familiarity bred a far more fluent Waratahs backline in the early stages of the game that should have been rewarded with points. The Waratahs did the hard work to get themselves in the right part of the field, but they just could not execute.
There were two early try scoring opportunities butchered, with breakaway Charlie Gamble held up easily by the Brumbies’ defence and minutes later, winger Sid Harvey spilling a pass metres away from the line. The moment swung the momentum from the Waratahs to the Brumbies.
The Brumbies ruthlessly punished the Waratahs wastefulness, with Wallabies hooker Billy Pollard scoring the game’s first try after 20 minutes.
The Waratahs have consistently shown ill-discipline this season, and Gamble’s yellow card for entering a ruck offside was costly and careless. The NSW defensive scrum was weakened, and Brumbies second-rower Cadeyrn Neville crossed for his side’s second try.
Brumbies prop Allan Alaalatoa marked his 150th game with a try ten minutes into the second half that defined his decorated career, a selfless and tough carry, dragging his team over the tryline in the rain.
The Brumbies replacement Lachlan Lonergan was yellow-carded for deliberately pulling down a maul, which allowed the Waratahs an opportunity to stage a comeback from 21 points down. After 61 minutes, NSW finally crossed the Brumbies tryline through replacement prop Isaac Kailea, finally getting over from close range.
Despite Harvey kicking the conversion, there was a farcical interruption to the game by the TMO to recheck the grounding. Eventually, the TMO agreed referee Ben O’Keefe was correct and had made the correct decision.
The Waratahs’ biggest threat had consistently been on the edges, through their wingers and fullback Max Jorgensen. Jorgensen broke through a Tom Wright tackle to score in the corner after a long pass from captain Matt Philip. Harvey converted from a tough angle to set up ten minutes for the Waratahs to save their season.
Ultimately, it was too little too late. Another Waratahs season that promised so much has ended in disappointment.
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