NSW Waratahs fight back fails to hide defensive failure against Jaguares

THE Waratahs’ early-season optimism has come crashing down after being pumped by the Jaguares in Buenos Aires with a start to the game that has to be seen to be believed.

Waratahs fullback Israel Folau (L) passes the ball under the pressure of Argentina's Jaguares fly half Nicolas Sanchez (2-R) and flanker Pablo Matera (R).

CAPTAIN Michael Hooper said a mistake-riddled first-half performance was the killer for the Waratahs after they crashed to a humbling 38-28 defeat to the Jaguares in Buenos Aires.

The ten-point margin didn’t tell the tale of a one-sided match, which saw the Waratahs concede a try inside the first 20 seconds and then trail by 33-7 at halftime.

The Tahs added a veneer of respectability to the score by scoring two tries in the final two minutes, which denied the Jaguares a bonus point in their first win of the season.

But there was no mistaking the fact the game was dominated by the Argentinians from start to finish, with the travel-weary Waratahs unable to match the Jaguares in muscle, intensity or pace of attack.

The Tahs let in a try after just 17 seconds after tapping back a kickoff but failing to secure it, and the Argentinians put them to the sword by scoring five tries in the first half. The Jaguares’ strength in contact and set-piece dominance gave them the opportunity to use offloads and punish the Tahs’ defence.

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Argentina's Jaguares wing Emiliano Boffelli (L) and Australia's Waratahs centre Kurtley Beale have a wrestle.

The second half saw NSW stop the bleeding but their mistakes and overall lack of physicality meant they were create defensive wounds of their own. They were repeatedly unable to convert good pressure into points, and mount a proper fightback.

Tries to Nick Palmer and Israel Folau in the dying minutes and a second-half scoreline of 21-5 simply papered over some vast sky blue cracks.

“The Jaguares were very impressive at the start of the game there, they capitalised on opportunities and put points on us very easily. Too easily for our liking. It was hard to get back into the next game,” Hooper said.

“We expected a tough challenge. It did come and we didn’t plan for the result that ended up occurring however we have to deal with it and move forward

“I thought we played some really good shape throughout the game, and in the first half. I am not sure what the stats say but I am sure our possession was probably quite high.

“We were unable to capitalise on a lot but still applying a lot of pressure on the Jaguars and we were probably unlucky not to get a couple of tries early on. We just copped too many tries there in the first half, and it was tough to come back.”

A fast finish for NSW, but not enough to catch the @JaguaresARG before the hooter. The NSW Waratahs will return home to Allianz Stadium next Sunday afternoon for a double-header special for Ladies’ Round.#JAGvWAR #ForTheLoveOfRugby pic.twitter.com/0NBnNoVoPx

— NSW Waratahs (@NSWWaratahs) March 10, 2018

The Jaguares picked up their first win of the season under new coach and former Aussie scrum guru Mario Ledesma, and NSW coach Daryl Gibson said it was an awakening of the talent-rich but mystifyingly underperformed Argentinian squad.

“I am sure (Ledesma’s Australian knowledge) was a factor, but the Jaguars played nice brand of rugby tonight,” Gibson said.

“They were strong up front, moved the ball well, took opportunities when they arose. They’ve got some really classy players. They’re probably doing what they should be doing.

“It’s obviously very difficult to come back from that situation (33-7 halftime deficit).

“The Jaguares capitalised on a lot of our errors, that first re-start try, the intercept. “There is stuff there you would say is largely preventable.

“We came here to try and hold the ball. We were disappointed last week that we weren’t able to sustain enough possession to put pressure on teams.

“I felt we did that better tonight. But we just didn’t capitalise with that final pass and made errors which let the pressure off.”

Waratahs scrum half Jake Gordon (R) runs with the ball marked by Argentina's Jaguares fly half Nicolas Sanchez (L).

The Waratahs weren’t at the races as far as physicality levels went.

Though untimely handling errors were still an issue, NSW managed to fix last week’s problem and hold the ball for longer but their lack of penetration at the gainline meant they were easy fodder for the aggressive Jaguares defence.

Throw in an unstable scrum and the Tahs’ attack was well contained by the hosts, who appeared to have done their homework well on NSW’s gameplan and had plenty of bodies to shut down their preferred attacking channels in mid and wide field.

Either the Tahs didn’t adapt on the run and figure out alternative ways to attack or they just trusted backline cattle was still the best bet, but without any line-bending to drawn in defenders, they were able to fan out in numbers.

A lack of dominance in defensive contact also gave the Jaguares roll forward with the ball, the freedom to make pop passes and the ability to score tries.

Waratahs prop Tom Robertson hits the ball up.

As the scoreboard ticked over, the wheels also came off discipline-wise for NSW, which saw errors compounded and hard-fought territory gains given away cheaply.

The Jaguares may not have kicked on and posted a score in the Tahs’ worst-ever folder but after two early games were NSW’s defence had looked improved from last year, this took them back to the bad old days of 2017.

The six-to-four try tally was the eighth time the Waratahs have conceded five or more tries in a game in the last two seasons.

Last year was also the season where the Tahs allowed second-half comebacks - they “won” 21-5 in the second 40 in Buenos Aires - to mask the underlying issues of an inability to adapt their preferred game under pressure.

On paper, the final scoreline may not alert a casual reader to the Waratahs having had their flaws exposed badly but Rebels coach Dave Wessels - who brings his team to Sydney next Sunday - will be all over the gametape.

It’s not often you can lose an 80-minute game in the first 20 seconds but that’s just about what happened for NSW, when they tapped back their kickoff and without a trailing player, watched the Jaguares scoop it up and race 75 metres to score.

That rattled the Tahs but they had the chance to get back in the game thereafter, with good territory and sustained possession. It amounted to nothing, however, with the Tahs unable to punch through the Jaguares’ line.

Errors led to the Jaguares breaking out and popping passes, and Emiliano Boffelli scored his second against the now-rattled Tahs.

Israel Folau of Waratahs is tackled by Joaquin Tuculet

They pretty much stayed rattled for the rest of the game.

Joacquin Tuculet strolled through the Waratahs’ back defence off a scrum soon after for a third - Rona and Foketi both looked at the other - when Nicolas Sanchez went over a fourth it was 26-0 and major nightmare territory.

The Tahs finally got on the board when Jed Holloway scored with a clever pick-and-scoot from the ruck, which was available due to the hosts putting 14 men in the line.

But any hope of a comeback was dashed when the Tahs’ dogged persistence to make their penetration out wide saw Bernard Foley’s long pass intercepted and give away a try as the halftime hooter sounded.

A second try to Rona after the break breathed life into the Tahs again, and they managed to halt the Jaguares’ momentum. There was no scores for the next half-hour, which obviously was a concern for the Waratahs far more than Mario Ledesma’s men.

Though it didn’t determine the match by any means, some half-heartedly pedancti refereeing of Mike Fraser didn’t give the Waratahs any timely footholds for a comeback.

He was largely all over the Waratahs but allowed the Jaguares to get away with a fair bit of illegality in their quarter, and also failed to police a routine habit of flying off their feet over the breakdown.

The Waratahs’ bench gave some impact again, and it wouldn’t surprise to see Nick Palmer, Kali Tawake and Will Miller get more minutes or even starts as the season goes on. Palmer scored in the 79th minute off a sketchy forward pass and Folau won the race to a toed through ball after the siren.

It was too little, way too late, for NSW.

SCOREBOARD

JAGUARES 38 (Emiliano Boffelli 2, Bautista Delguy, Matias Orlando, Nicolas Sanchez, Joaquin Tuculet tries Sanchez 4 cons) bt NSW WARATAHS 28 (Israel Folau, Jed Holloway, Nicholas Palmer, Curtis Rona tries Bernard Foley 4 cons) at Velez Sarsfield. Referee: Mike Fraser

Originally published as NSW Waratahs fight back fails to hide defensive failure against Jaguares