Super Rugby: Waratahs beat Stormers at Allianz Stadium

The Waratahs will fly out of the country on a high after a stunning 34-27 victory over the Stormers at Allianz Stadium.

Andrew Kellaway of the Waratahs runs the ball during the round two Super Rugby match against the Stormers at Allianz Stadium.

The Waratahs have failed so often in this situation, with a home game at Allianz Stadium hanging in the balance as the clock ticked down to full-time. But when it came to the crunch tonight they somehow conjured up a try to begin their 2018 Super Rugby campaign with an extraordinary 34-27 victory over the Stormers.

How important will Ned Hanigan’s tie-breaking try right at the finish prove to be? The Tahs had lost their past four competition matches and for all their buoyant pre-season talk, had they lost that match tonight — or, the more likely scenario, drawn it — it could so easily have unleashed all their negative demons. Now they will head to Kingsford Smith Airport tomorrow full of confidence for what they might achieve when they play the Sharks in Durban and the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on their two weeks abroad.

It was the Stormers hooker Dean Muir’s throw to the last lineout of the match that turned all those negative vibes into positives. For the second lineout in a row, he overthrew and the Tahs were alert enough to take advantage of it, surging to within touching distance of the post before they took it to the right from the next phase.

Israel Folau of the Waratahs tackles Nizaam Carr of the Stormers.

Half back Jake Gordon fired out a pass to five-eighth Bernard Foley who instantly sized up the situation. And even though he had a prop on debut outside him in Harry Johnson-Holmes, he trusted him and the young front-rower didn’t disappoint, drawing his man before passing to Hanigan. There was still work to be done, with winger Raymond Rhule blocking the Wallaby flanker’s path to the line, but Hanigan had a full head of steam up and he wasn’t to be stopped, flinging the seven-Test Springbok aside before grounding the ball.

It was an extraordinary end to a game neither side had ever controlled, with the scores locked together at 10-10, 17-17, 24-24 and 27-27 at various points. It became almost farcical at time. Whenever one team scored, it would spark a response from the other. But perhaps the critical moment was when they held the Stormers to a solitary penalty goal during the 10 minutes that Waratahs’ debutant Rob Simmons was in the sin bin after taking out South African jumper Kobus van Dyk in the air.

At Simmons departed, it looked grim indeed for the Tahs. The Stormers scrum was unstoppable. Tahs loose-head Tom Robertson was on his last warning from referee Angus Gardiner and it looked to all the world like the Waratahs were about to slip back into their bad old habits of yesteryear. But with captain Michael Hooper driving them on and number eight Michael Wells doing wonderfully to control the bouncing ball from the back of an outgunned scrum and drive it forward, the Tahs were able to clear their own tryline.

No fewer than nine players made their Waratahs debut tonight and all of them performed nobly. But, as coach Daryl Gibson has predicted, it was the spine of the team, halfback Jake Gordon, five-eighth Foley and inside centre Kurtley Beale who stood up when it really counted. Foley had a faultless night with the boot, landing six from six, and in a cliffhanger like this his ability to land goals from near-impossible positions was priceless.

And his experience shone through when he did no more than nod at Israel Folau before hoisting the high ball. He landed it to perfection, Folau leaping high above winger Dillyn Leyds to grab the ball and simply continue on his unstoppable way to the tryline. It was a try that looked so utterly effortless that it’s a wonder the Tahs don’t make far greater use of Folau’s aerial skills.

Beale was his usual scatty self but he almost conjured up two tries from nowhere and in the critical final moments, when both sides were throwing caution to the wind, it was obvious that the Stormers, in marking him so closely, were leaving other NSW threats unattended.

The first week of fixtures in the Australian conference has seen three of the four Australian sides win, the Rebels, the Brumbies and the Tahs. And the only side to lose, the Queensland Reds, lost to another Australian side, Melbourne. With so much riding on the initial results, it was a weekend to savour.