Super Rugby 2015, round 15 review: Waratahs go top of Australian conference

SO inconsistent throughout their Super Rugby championship defence, the Waratahs are set to rule Australia again.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 23: Bernard Foley (L) of the Waratahs celebrates with his team mate Kurtley Beale of the Waratahs after scoring a try during the round 15 Super Rugby match between the Waratahs and the Crusaders at ANZ Stadium on May 23, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

SO inconsistent throughout their Super Rugby championship defence, the Waratahs are set to rule Australia again after winning the rematch of last year’s grand final on Saturday night.

NSW took advantage of the Brumbies’ bye week to record a 32-22 win over the Crusaders in Sydney, leapfrogging the Canberra-based side to go top of the Australian conference with just three regular season games to play.

But the other three Australian teams in action — the Reds, the Force and the Rebels — all slumped to defeats as Queensland’s James O’Connor hogged the Friday night headlines.

Read on for all the highs and lows of round 15 in our weekly wrap.

SKELTON STEALS THE SHOW

GIANT Waratahs lock Will Skelton is now public enemy No 1 in Christchurch after treading a very fine line between fair play and foul in the win over the Crusaders at ANZ Stadium.

Three times Skelton’s on-field deeds were referred to the third match official and while he escaped punishment on the night, he was later cited for a lifting tackle on Sam Whitelock.

He and hooker Tolu Latu were set to face the SANZAR judiciary on Monday afternoon.

Regardless, the Waratahs will now believe they are capable of going back to back after knocking over the All Black-laden Crusaders ahead of their two-match tour of South Africa.

Particularly impressive was the character Michael Cheika’s side showed when they were reduced to 14 men following the sin-binning of Latu.

Normally teams are content just to achieve parity in the 10 minutes following a yellow card but instead the Waratahs scored points and hit the front.

Importantly, Wallabies fly half Bernard Foley outpointed All Blacks opposite Colin Slade, who had a case of the fumbles before limping off injured.

The Waratahs play the in-form Lions and then the Cheetahs in South Africa before returning home to host the hapless Reds.
They should be good enough to see off the Brumbies and win the Australian conference.

REDS REVERT TO TYPE

SO much for the Reds revival.

The addition of John “Knuckles” Connolly to the Queensland coaching ranks resulted in a one-match spike in form, with a blistering win over the Rebels in round 14.

But their myriad issues re-emerged on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium, as the Sharks snapped a six-match losing streak with a 21-14 win over Richard Graham’s men.

The difference in the end was a bizarre blooper from Reds fullback James O’Connor.

His clearing kick went horribly wrong as Sharks half-back Stefan Ungerer took a sharp slips catch to dot down for his second try of the night.

The best the Reds can hope for this season is avoiding the wooden spoon and they travel to Perth this round for a dance of the desperates against the rock-bottom Force.

FRUSTRATING FORCE

THE Force’s defensive, safety-first game plan frustrated the Highlanders during the first half at nib Stadium on Saturday night.

Playoffs hopefuls, the Highlanders led just 6-3 at half-time thanks to a couple of Lima Sopoaga penalties.

But the visitors were playing most of the rugby and the pressure eventually told, as John Hardie was driven over from a rolling maul and then All Blacks half-back Aaron Smith capped an outstanding game with the Highlanders’ second try in a 23-3 win.

The Force’s win over the Waratahs is now a distant memory and the pressure is on Michael Foley’s two win, 11 loss mob as they prepare to host the Reds on Saturday night.

“Against really good sides you’re not going to get a hell of a lot of chances and we saw that against the Waratahs as well when we only got a couple of chances,” Foley said.

“Against the Waratahs, we finished them off and this week we didn’t quite do that.”

REBELS OWN WORST ENEMY

OVERALL, the Rebels have had a positive season but they remain just 10th of 15 teams following Sunday’s 31-15 loss to the Stormers in Cape Town.

The Melbourne club enjoyed a dominant 67 per cent of possession at Newlands but made silly and costly individual errors, most notably hooker Pat Leafa who threw a gift pass to Stormers winger Dillyn Leyds who scored his first of two tries on the brink of halftime for a 18-7 lead.

“It’s going to be a tough one to review because our errors would have been through the roof and that’s disappointing,” said Rebels captain Scott Higginbotham.

On a happier note, Rebels coach Tony McGahan is expecting to have three key players back from injury against the Sharks this weekend in centre Tamati Ellison, winger Sefanaia Naivalu and prop Toby Smith.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

IN itself, beating the beleaguered Blues is nothing to crow about, but the ladder-leading Hurricanes could be justified in some hearty backslapping over the weekend.

The Hurricanes heaped more pressure on Blues coach John Kirwan with a ruthless 29-5 win at what is usually a fortress at Eden Park.

At 12-1, the Hurricanes are in uncharted territory and teams with that record (the great Blues and Crusaders sides of yesteryear) have never failed to go on and win the championship.

What made it more impressive was the fact Chris Boyd’s side was missing a raft of top players, including skipper Conrad Smith, Cory Jane, Beauden Barrett, James Broadhurst and Ben Franks.

LIKE the Hurricanes, Dave Rennie’s banged-up Chiefs are minus many key players, most notably All Blacks five-eighth combo Aaron Cruden and Sonny Bill Williams.

But their squad rotation policy continues to pay dividends, as unheralded players like Mitchell Graham, Michael Leitch and Anton Lienert-Brown — plus former All Black Ross Filipo, called in from the commentary box — helped the hosts to a 34-20 win over the Bulls on Friday night.

However their injury woes continue, with newly re-signed forward Johan Bardoul ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

FOR so long the laughing stock of the competition, the Johannesburg-based Lions are now pushing hard for supremacy in the South African conference following a 40-17 demolition of the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Sunday.

With 36 points, only the Stormers (38) stand in their way as the coaching stocks of former Springbok lock Johan Ackermann continue to rise.

Originally published as Super Rugby 2015, round 15 review: Waratahs go top of Australian conference