Before Friday night’s 48-33 loss to the Crusaders, Waratahs halfback Jake Gordon had fronted 30 press conferences as the losing captain.
Since taking the armband in 2021, Gordon has been a master of diplomacy in these moments, finding words when most footballers would struggle. On Friday evening, sitting beside coach Dan McKellar inside Allianz Stadium, with his head in his hands, Gordon had finally reached the end of a very long fuse.
Asked how this loss ranked, Gordon was blunt.
“This is the worst, I reckon, because we’re a better team than that,” Gordon said. “I guess it is familiar, this position, but the way we’ve performed at home this year – I thought we’ve performed really well, and tonight was nowhere near it.”
Since making his debut for the Waratahs in 2017, Gordon has seen the false dawns that tend to greet the start of the season in Sydney. The crushing reality is that his side has played finals just three times in his eight seasons at NSW, winning just one, in 2018.
At the start of this season, the only way was up for a Waratahs side that finished bottom last year under Darren Coleman after winning just two games, ironically against the Crusaders.
Tane Edmed looks dejected after Friday night’s defeat.Credit: Getty Images
McKellar arrived as the new coach after a difficult stint at Leicester Tigers, bringing pedigree and toughness from his time leading the Brumbies and working as an assistant coach with the Wallabies.
The Waratahs also benefited from the demise of the Melbourne Rebels, picking up Wallabies Andrew Kellaway, Taniela Tupou, Darby Lancaster, Rob Leota and Isaac Kailea. They also got the services of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, fresh from a breakthrough spring tour with the Wallabies.
On paper, the Waratahs had the spine of a highly competitive team, and they won their first five games at home in Sydney, including major scalps against the Chiefs and the Brumbies.
Away from home, though, the Waratahs repeatedly and inexplicably got intense stage fright, losing every game and conceding an average of 41 points. Their fragility on the road was clear, yet the slump could not be stopped.
Jake Gordon endured one of his toughest nights as Waratahs captain.Credit: Getty Images
Against the Crusaders on Friday, in front of the worst crowd of the season (11,284) at Allianz Stadium, the home comforts that had once provided so much hope were destroyed in a disastrous first half where they conceded 31 points. At the same time, over the road at the SCG, 39,082 fans watched the Sydney Swans beat Carlton.
McKellar has had one season with this playing group and after the game gave notice that things had to change.
“It’s definitely not an ability thing; there’s no way it’s an ability thing,” McKellar said. “I’ve been here a while now, a number of months now, and I think there are some things that are going to take time to change.
“There are some people that are too comfortable, and that needs to change. Because if you’re too comfortable, just happy to be here and wear the tracksuit, that will change.”
Crusaders coach Rob Penney, formerly in charge of the Waratahs, look on.Credit: Getty Images
Gordon also referenced “systemic issues” at the Waratahs.
“You’ve got to want to do it day in, day out, week in, week out,” McKellar said. “A lot of guys are doing that. There’s a few that aren’t. It’s in daily habits. If we look at the Waratahs as a whole over the last few years, there are things that need to change. It will take time, that’s the reality.”
Against the Crusaders, the Waratahs’ first-half defence was meek and the attack dysfunctional. Suaalii was badly missed, and given the former Rooster has played just seven games of Super Rugby, it gives an idea of the unrealistic load he is already carrying on his young shoulders.
There was an irony in the fact the Waratahs’ worst performance of the season came against Rob Penney, the Crusaders coach who was deemed surplus to requirements by NSW in 2021. Penney, like McKellar, quickly understood the enormity of the challenge at the Waratahs: unrealistic expectations coupled with an inability to turn the squad into a consistent outfit.
The consequences of the Waratahs’ failure this season go beyond the borders of NSW. In a darkened coaching box at Allianz Stadium, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt looked stunned at what he was witnessing in the first half. Against the British and Irish Lions, in front of sold-out stadiums, each Wallaby selected will be under immense pressure to perform. The Crusaders provided a small flashlight, compared to the beaming spotlight that will shine down on them throughout the Lions series.
In the wreckage of the worst defeat of the season, loosehead prop Angus Bell emerged with significant credit, carrying relentlessly and underlining his case as the Wallabies’ most important player. Langi Gleeson’s two tries also presented an open-and-shut case for his inclusion in the Test squad to face the Lions, despite his impending departure for Montpellier. Taniela Tupou also found some form when it was desperately needed.
There is a slim mathematical chance the Waratahs can still make the finals, but it is largely irrelevant. It is often said that when the Waratahs sneeze, rugby in Australia catches a cold. Now, the symptoms are far more serious: the coach has diagnosed a malaise in his playing group that must be treated immediately.
