Waratahs fall to Highlanders in Dunedin
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The NSW Waratahs have been defeated by the Highlanders 26-19 in Dunedin, New Zealand on Saturday night.
The Waratahs rallied late to challenge the Highlanders for victory late in the match but it wasn’t enough, with the defending champions left to rue missed opportunities.
The Waratahs did claim the losing bonus point from the match to ensure they didn’t leave New Zealand empty handed.
The Waratahs will return to Australia to prepare for an epic Australian derby clash when they take on the Aquis Brumbies at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Sunday 22 March for some afternoon Rugby.
THE MATCH:
The Waratahs took less than three minutes to score their first try following a brilliant interchange between fullback Israel Folau and flanker Michael Hooper.
A short ball from Folau allowed the barnstorming Hooper to break through the Highlanders defensive line before sending a perfectly weighted pass to Nick Phipps to score.
The Waratahs continued to move the ball around as they looked to improve on their style of play against the Reds from the previous week with Nick Phipps providing quick service to the backs from the breakdown.
The Waratahs scrum excelled against the New Zealanders early on with the Highlanders forwards struggling at the set piece against the men from NSW.
This advantage directly lead to a try as the Highlanders defence was caught napping on the blind side in the 18th minute with the Waratahs forwards providing the platform for the second try.
An offload from Michael Hooper to Nick Phipps allowed for Matt Carraro to gratefully receive the ball in space and run aware to score next to the posts.
The successful conversion from Bernard Foley took the score to 12-0 in favour of the Waratahs.
Referee Joubert sent Sekope Kepu to the sin bin in the 26th minute after the Waratahs were seen to be enforcing deliberate penalties on their line to slow down the attacker’s ball.
The resulting scrum allowed the Highlanders to score underneath the posts through Tom Franklin taking the score to 12-7 in favour of NSW ten minutes before half time.
The Waratahs regathered their composure and continued to attack the Highlanders in their defensive zone. With numbers to the left a brilliant individual effort from Waisake Naholo to break down the wing to score was a blow to the Waratahs just before half time.
The score at the interval was 12-14 in favour of the Highlanders.
The second half did not start well for the Waratahs with a mistake at the scrum in their own 22 allowed the barnstorming Ben Smith to break the tackle of Kurtley Beale to score next to the posts to extend the home team’s advantage to 12-21.
The damage continued to be inflicted on the defending champions with the Highlanders scoring moments later through Patrick Osbourne taking the score to 26-12.
The Waratahs began to work themselves back into the match as a Peter Betham break on the wing allowed NSW to re-enter the Highlanders defensive zone.
Only desperate defence from the tiring Highlanders prevented NSW from scoring on several phases.
Towering forward, Will Skelton continued to dominate the opposition at the breakdown and worked hard with 13 runs by the 64th minute of the match.
The Waratahs resolve never gave up as the men in blue refused to die wondering in the match having again repelled phase after phase of Highlanders’ attack within their defensive zone.
A rolling maul from the NSW Waratahs was deemed to be held up despite appearing though Michael Hooper had grounded the ball in the 74th minute.
The Waratahs were unable to score off the resulting play as the Highlanders cleared their lines but a powerful run from Israel Folau allowed replacement Stephen Hoiles to score next to the posts.
Foley converted the try to get the side a sniff of stealing victory but the desperate Highlanders defence were able to hold off NSW allowing the home side to claim the victory.
The Waratahs will get the chance to get back on track at home next week when they take on the Aquis Brumbies on Sunday 22 March.
Highlanders 26 (Tom Franklin, Waisake Naholo, Ben Smith, Patrick Osbourne tries; Lima Sopoaga 2 cons; pens) defeated the NSW Waratahs 19 (Nick Phipps, Matt Carraro, Stephen Hoiles tries; Bernard Foley 2 cons; pens)
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