Super Rugby: Waratahs end tough South Africa trip with heavy loss to Sharks in Durban

THE Waratahs return home from Africa this week battered and pointless after suffering another heavy defeat at the hands of the Sharks in Durban.

The Waratahs defence had all sorts of problems containing the Sharks’ attack.

THE Waratahs return home from Africa this week battered and pointless after suffering another heavy defeat at the hands of the Sharks in Durban.

The home side feasted on a steady stream of NSW mistakes to rattle up a 37-14 victory, taking the points conceded tally for the Waratahs in the last fortnight to 92 after their 55-36 loss to the Lions.

Israel Folau scored twice for the Tahs but his five-pointers were worth little weighed against the points NSW delivered on a platter to the Sharks.

The Sharks only outscored the Tahs three tries to two but they banged over another 18 points in penalty goals, and NSW gifted the hosts all three of their tries as well.

Israel Folau finds it tough to break through the Sharks’ defensive line.

The Waratahs’ conceded 25 turnovers, and two dropped passes in attack were scooped up by Sharks players, who raced away to score. The other Sharks’ try came after several poor box kicks in the opening two minutes put them under immediate pressure.

The rest of the damage on the scoreboard came through poor NSW discipline in the red zone.

Even with sharpshooter and captain Pat Lambie having left the field early, young replacement No.10 Curwin Bosch nailed six goals in a fine display.

The Sharks led 31-7 at the break and though the scoreline was 7-6 in NSW’s favour in the second half, the Waratahs never looked like they had the goods to haul in another three tries for victory.

The Waratahs muscled up better in defence than last week but still allowed the Sharks to break 28 tackles and offload effectively, keeping NSW pinned in their own territory for long stretches.

The NSW attack struggled badly in the face of a fast and aggressive Sharks’ defence.

Without much punch through the line, the Tahs’ attack was back-foot, lateral and easy to contain, highlighting yet again how much they miss the direction of Bernard Foley.

In the second half NSW resorted to a kick-pressure game and though it yielded several scoring chances, on each occasion a Waratah player coughed up the ball or it was turned over at a breakdown.

Israel Folau and Irae Simone celebrate a rare positive moment in Durban.

Other areas of a side in strife also popped up at the worst times: losing a handful of kickoff receipts, crooked line out throws and unforced handling errors in open field.

It was a night of frustration for the Waratahs and leaves them in the bottom third of the Super Rugby ladder. With the Brumbies winning and the Reds losing a cliffhanger against the Crusaders, NSW are still in touch in the Australian conference but have shown little to suggest they can be a contender this season with Foley out of the picture.

“It’s been a tough trip to the Republic,” Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said.

“Obviously two comprehensive losses, tonight the Sharks played with good pressure and capitalised on our errors. The early damage that that inflicted on us was tough to come back from.

“There were aspects of our game I really though we improved on, our defence was much more attacking. Particularly in the second half keeping them scoreless, in terms of tries.

“But we really came unstuck in those first few minutes. Right from the kick off we couldn’t exit our own area, we gave away a line our and then found ourselves seven points down.”

Captain Michael Hooper said he was pleased with an improved NSW defence but said it was a “difficult game”.

Andrew Kellaway tries to pull off a last-ditch tackle.

“It’s been a tough trip. The Sharks were really physical,” Hooper said.

“I thought in our defence we brought that but we couldn’t deal with them particularly in the first half they were on top of us and kept pushing. It was a difficult game.

“It was probably pleasing to see the fight in the team on our second week over here. There is a lot to work with in this group, there is a bunch of guys willing to work hard.

“I can never get down on our effort, I thought it was there for the full game, it’s about getting our roles better individually and being able to pick off tough and top teams like we’ve faced over here. So tough trip but a good learning in both these games.”

The Sharks were pumped up for their first game at home this season and scored after just two minutes.

Having failed to clear their territory via box kicks from Nick Phipps, the Sharks’ power in contact saw NSW scrambling to keep them out straight away and simple numbers were created for Tera Mtembu out on the right edge.

Two penalties from Bosch kicked the lead out further, and then the youngsters gobbled up a NSW knock-on to race 40 metres to score and make it 18-0.

The Tahs’ struggled to get through the Sharks’ defence so Bryce Hegarty tried a chip for Folau, and a fluky bounce gave the NSW centre an easy try and a potential platform to fight back.

Jack Dempsey gets a spell on the sidelines.

But more NSW indiscipline saw that seven points and platform almost wiped away, with two Sharks penalties pushing it back to 24-7.

NSW paid dearly for another dropped pass in attack when after the halftime hooter when Kobus van Wyk caught the loose ball and raced away to score for a 24-point halftime lead.

Folau scored soon after the break to again give the Waratahs a faint sniff but they could muster little in the way of sustained pressure and territory. Two more Bosch penalties were the only points that came in the last half-hour.

Originally published as Super Rugby: Waratahs end tough South Africa trip with heavy loss to Sharks in Durban