Tahs dominate Reds to stay in the hunt for Super Rugby AU finals

The Waratahs unleashed their best performance in years as they put a shambolic Reds team to the sword to keep their play-offs hopes alive.

Michael Hooper following the Waratahs’ big win over the Reds. Picture: Getty Images

The NSW Waratahs unleashed their best performance in years, at least going back to their banner year of 2014, as they put a shambolic Queensland team to the sword to win back the Bob Templeton Cup with a brilliant 45-12 victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday night.

In one fell swoop, as they stormed over for five tries to nil to put the game out of Queensland’s reach by leading 38-0 at halftime, the Waratahs resurrected their Super Rugby AU season. The win takes them to equal third with the Reds but behind the Brumbies and the Melbourne Rebels but with three teams to figure in the play-offs in this all-Australian competition, they are now back in the race.

Alex Newsome and Tom Horton celebrate during the big win. Picture: Getty Images

The Reds were certainly disrupted when Wallabies sensation Jordan Petaia decided not to make the trip south, just in case he would be unable to attend the funeral of his father who died suddenly on Wednesday but captain Liam Wright insisted his absence had nothing to do with Queensland’s utterly flat performance.

They came out as listless as the Tahs were lively and energetic. Right from the start they attacked the Queensland right flank, where winger James Ramm utterly bamboozled the man marking him, Jock Campbell. But it wasn’t just Campbell who was missing tackles. So too was halfback Scott Maloula, Test second-rower Lukhan Salakai-Loto, centre Hamish Stewart. The list goes on and on for an utterly dysfunctional Queensland side.

Certainly, as stand-in NSW skipper Michael Hooper pointed out, the Waratahs had a point to prove after their own poor display two weeks ago against the Melbourne Rebels. How they stewed on that performance as they had the bye last weekend and they came out bristling with determination.

“We got off to a hot start and we kept our foot on their throat there tonight,” said Hooper. “The set piece was good, ball movement was good and we were really pleased to come off the bye and put in that performance.”

He agreed that the first half had been one of the most sublime passages from a NSW side in years. “We stuck to our shape. Our defence was really good. We knew these guys would come through the middle, big guys powering, but our defence has improved out of sight over the last couple of weeks. Really pleased with that.”

Wright had no answers. “They probably wanted it a bit more. We just didn’t show up,” he said.

When, one wonders, is Reds coach Brad Thorn going to find a lineout thrower who can hit the mark. Brandon Paenga-Amosa lost five of his first half lineout throws and while a successful lineout is all about the combination of thrower, jumper and lifters, it was clear that no-one in a red jersey had any faith in his teammates. It was an appalling and costly performance by the Queensland sideline set piece and the irony was that the man who was expected to do all the damage for NSW at lineout time, captain Rob Simmons, was a late withdrawal himself on Thursday.

The Reds’ lineout was poor on Saturday night. Picture: Getty Images

So, with the Waratahs dominating nearly 70 per cent of possession, the first half quickly turned into a training exercise. The first NSW try came from a Paenga-Amosa throw gone astray as NSW flung the ball out to their left flank where Ramm chip-kicked, regathered, immediately moved the ball onto inside centre Karmichael Hunt who, when tackled, unloaded the ball to a try-bound Jake Gordon.

The former Wallabies halfback was to score two other tries in a blistering first half, one from a quick tap and a 10m run to the line through a sleepy Paenga-Amosa and then another when he sliced through the defence from an untidy lineout, fed five-eighth Will Harrison and then was on hand to take the return pass.

The other NSW try came from a bad miss on number eight Jack Dempsey by Jack Hardy, on for Campbell. He then stepped through Maloula before offloading in close to fullback Jack Maddocks. It was all painfully easy and Harrison made certain the Reds received full punishment by kicking six from six in a frenetic first half.

The only redeeming thing that can be said of Queensland was that they denied NSW 50 points, though it seemed inevitable that barrier would be breached when Tom Horton powered over on the back of the NSW driving maul. So, it wasn’t just the Brumbies who could take advantage of the Reds slipshod maul defence. NSW looked to have scored twice but Dempsey was denied when he grounded the ball short and winger Alex Newsome will rue that after launching himself acrobatically at the corner, he then grounded the ball on the touchline in goal.

The Reds slumped to a heavy loss at the SCG. Picture: Getty Images

The match ended on an almost farcical note as Queensland stunned NSW by winning a lineout with replacement halfback Tate McDermott sprinting through a gap and then delivering the ball to five-eighth James O’Connor who was shaking hands with NSW fullback Maddocks even as he was in the act of placing the ball for the try. The irony was that the Reds could claim to have won the second half 12-5 but even that beggars belief. They spent most of the rain-sodden half in desperate defence on their own line after at one point in the second half conceding nine penalties out of 10.

Sadly, young 19-year-old prop Zane Nonggorr was sent to the bin for repeated scrummaging infringements in his Super Rugby debut and had to be consoled at full-time as he burst into tears. He, at least, had given everything, which is far more than can be said for most of his teammates.

The Waratahs had every reason to be delighted as the Templeton Cup returned to NSW. They had all contributed immensely to the performance and in the end there were simply too many candidate for Tahs player of the match: Gordon, Ramm, Dempsey, Hooper, Maddocks and Ned Hanigan were all outstanding.

It was that sort of night for the Tahs and the result, but more importantly the manner in which it was achieved, must surely take some of the heat off coach Rob Penney.