Dunedin drought-breaker has Tahs eyeing Brumbies scalp

The Waratahs are targeting an audacious quarter-finals ambush of the Brumbies after breaking a 14-year drought with a win in Dunedin on Sunday.

Spurning the cliched one-game-at-a-time approach of many of his contemporaries, NSW coach Darren Coleman is looking past this week’s home game against competition leaders the Auckland Blues and training his gaze on a potential trip to Canberra to take down Australia’s best Super Rugby side.

A 32-20 win over the Highlanders has the Waratahs sitting in sixth spot on the ladder with one regular round to go, pitting them against the third-ranked Brumbies in the quarter-finals.

Only the Reds upsetting the Crusaders in Christchurch next week would change that outcome and Coleman said he would relish the chance to play in one of the competition’s most hostile environments.

“That’s what we want. I’d love to go down to Canberra and beat the Brumbies,” he said.

“We’ll see how the next weeks falls out, but that’s looking like a pretty likely scenario now and we can’t wait. We wanted to be the best Australian team or challenge the top Australian team in year one, and if we get a chance to do that in the first play-off week, that’d be awesome.”

The Waratahs celebrate Tane Edmed’s try in Dunedin.Credit: Getty

The Waratahs continue to defy expectations with their second upset win in three weeks. Beating the Crusaders at Leichhardt Oval might have delivered the emotional high of the season but Sunday’s four-tries-to-three win over the Highlanders showed the Waratahs could adapt. Coleman called it his side’s most clinical win. Coming from a long way back and with improvement still to come, he was not wrong.

The coach’s savvy rethink on bench selections was the key, preventing the second-half slump for which this side was becoming known. It cost them a 15-0 lead and a home quarter-final against the Hurricanes in round 13 but, in Dunedin on Sunday, the injection of Angus Bell, Ned Hanigan and Charlie Gamble steadied the ship when the Highlanders narrowed the scoreline to 19-15 in the 56th minute.

The try came during a 10-minute period when prop Paddy Ryan was in the sin bin for a dangerous clean out, but it was the last time the home side scored - until a converted try after full-time. This week it was the Waratahs who changed gears, extending their lead thanks to a converted try to five-eighth Tane Edmed and a further eight points from his boot.

Wallabies captain Michael Hooper starred in his first start after returning from a head knock. Hooper scored a try just before half-time but was lucky to be on the field after surviving a shocking tip tackle from inexperienced No.10 James Gilbert midway through the half.

Tane Edmed scored 13 of the Waratahs’ 32 points in Dunedin.Credit: Getty

“I don’t wish that on anyone. These things happen in this game but I was disappointed that it happened to me,” Hooper said. “He (Gilbert) should miss some weeks I think.”

The team flies home to Sydney to prepare for a final fling at Leichhardt Oval, the ground from which they’ve mounted the most satisfying of turnarounds from a winless 2021 season.

The table-topping Blues will be some clash to see out the regular season on, but with a finals berth locked in, Coleman admitted the Waratahs had already outperformed even his expectations.

“I can’t go back and change my story. I thought if we get four or five wins and sneak into the eight, that’ll be a successful season. [The season has] exceeded what I thought,” he said.

Will Harris and Mark Nawaqanitawase also scored for NSW in the first half, and referee Nic Berry controversially overlooked what appeared to be Highlanders back Marty Banks using his leg to prevent Jeremy Williams scoring in the 67th minute.

A last-gasp try to the Highlanders showed the Waratahs are by no means the finished product, but their hunger to compete and consistent ability to win against the odds, will give anyone pause before writing them off as contenders in the knockouts.

Watch every match of the Super Rugby Pacific on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport.