Super Rugby 2020: Waratahs star in absolute mauling against Chiefs
Just when those last remaining Waratahs fans felt their loyal support had been vindicated, the Tahs turn in a shocker. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Australian rugby.
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Waratahs coach Rob Penney unloaded on his players after Friday night’s diabolical 51-14 loss to the Chiefs — rightfully describing the second half performance as “unacceptable”and “embarrassing”.
The straight-shooting Kiwi wouldn’t — or simply couldn’t — hide his fury at the way his team folded once the Chiefs applied the pressure - giving up 38 unanswered points in the second half to suffer a record defeat.
“It’s not acceptable and it’s just embarrassing,” Penney said.
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“It’s really tough on the supporters and the people who believe in those boys and want them to do well.
“It’s just not acceptable.”
The Waratahs came crashing back to earth with a thud after what ranks as one of the worst 40-minute performances in recent memory to kill off the few remaining believers they sucked in by winning a week ago.
Beating the Lions might have been a great way to boost the team’s flagging morale because it got the Waratahs off the mark and off the bottom of the ladder but the South Africans aren’t the real McCoy when they’re away from the Highveld.
The Chiefs are the genuine article however so it was no real surprise that they outclassed the young Waratahs at WIN Stadium but there was no way to gloss over the second half collapse
“We’ve just got to be real, like that was 51 points, crikey,” Penney said.
“There’s some pretty brutal terms that’s been used to describe what that second half looked like.
“And it’s very concerning, how does that happen?”
A little bit of perspective though because these Chiefs are so good they could well up winning the comp this season.
But the Tahs actually led at halftime against a team they hadn’t lost to on Australian soil for over a decade after giving up seven tries.
Too fast, too strong and more committed, the Chiefs killed off what was shaping an intriguing contest when their livewire halfback Brad Weber scored twice in the first four minutes after the restart.
It was all one-way traffic after that as the men gave the boys another brutal lesson in what it takes to succeed in Super Rugby to reinforce yet again just how far the Tahs are behind the best teams.
Everyone knew that was going to be the case at the start of this season after so many of their senior players took the bigger money on offer overseas and left the new coach to start the rebuilding process.
The Tahs deserve some credit for the one really good half of footy on Friday night.
Down 13-0 early, they weathered the early storm and hit back with tries by their stand-in skipper Kurtley Beale and his deputy Jack Dempsey to lead 14-13 at the break.
They did that by playing an ambitious game, a tactic that looks great when they pull it off but suddenly becomes a dog’s breakfast when they drop the pill as many times as they did with Beale himself among the prime culprits in a season that bears all the telltale signs of going from bad to worse.
“I think there were six clean drops in that second half where we just turned over the ball inexplicably,” Penney said.
“And we’ve got good players doing it, through the hands off the chest and straight into a Chiefs’ player to allow them to attack.
“That happens through pressure I guess but it’s not acceptable.”
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Discarded Waratahs flanker Will Miller gave his old teammates a timely reminder of what they missed out on by producing a five-star performance in the Brumbies’ 47-14 romp over the Sunwolves at WIN Stadium on Friday night.
Miller left NSW on his own accord after last season because he couldn’t get a regular starting spot as Michael Hooper had the open side flanker position sewn up.
A vacancy became available at the Brumbies after David Pocock left so Miller has been making the most of his chances before next weekend’s derby against the Waratahs.
“They’ve got the best seven in Australia so I didn’t have the opportunities there that I would have liked so that’s why I moved,” Miller said.
“He’s a great player and a great guy and I’m looking forward to butting heads with him, hopefully it’s next week, and I’m sure he’s looking forward to it as well.
“It’s one thing to train against each other but it’s another to play against each other so looking forward to it.”
Miller scored the second of the Waratahs seven tries in a lopsided match that earned them their first bonus point of the season and extended their lead at the top of the Australian conference to 10 points.
The Sunwolves, who had to switch their home match from Japan to Wollongong because of the coronavirus outbreak, were no match for the Brumbies though they did score a try against them from a lineout maul, a feat no other team have managed in at least two seasons.
That annoyed the Brumbies coach Dan McKellar but what pleased him — and probably ever other Australian rugby supporter — was the outstanding starting debut of halfback Ryan Lonergan.
The 21-year-old normally comes off the bench for Joe Powell but had a blinder when he ran out for the start, scoring the first try and booting all five of his conversion attempts before getting an early shower after 55 minutes, leaving McKellar with a few selection headaches before next week’s Waratahs game.
“Loners’ has done a really good job off the bench in that 20- to 25-minute mark closing out games,” McKellar said.
“His kicking game and his goalkicking are outstanding and he did a great job tonight but Joe Powell has been very good as well so we’ve got depth in most positions.”
As the first match in the hastily arranged double header, the Brumbies went back to the game’s lost traditions when they retreated to the hill after they’d finished, to mix with the crowd and “have a few of Wollongong’s finest” and get a first-hand look at the Waratahs in action against the Chiefs.
“I think they’re a team that’s going to play with a lot of width,” McKellar said.
“They certainly attack from one side of the field to the next and they’ve started to find their groove.
“They were very good against the Lions last week and it’s the Brumbies versus the Waratahs so they’ll be up for it and so will we.”
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