Make no mistake, “Tah Week” isn’t dead, but the Brumbies are still the ones smiling.
Brumbies chairman Matt Nobbs almost left GIO Stadium with egg on his face and a lighter wallet on Saturday evening as the Waratahs came within a whisker of snapping a 10-game losing streak against their ACT rivals.
But a 77th minute try from Corey Toole helped the Brumbies seal a 40-36 victory over a Waratahs team who stuck at it and almost came away with an unlikely win.
The Waratahs led 33-21 with 20 minutes remaining but conceded two tries in five minutes as Pete Samu and Lachlan Lonergan changed momentum in a seesawing clash.
The Waratahs’ woes were compounded when Michael Hooper was sent to the bin in the 65th minute for a cynical knock-on.
NSW still managed to take a 36-35 lead with a penalty goal before a critical error from Ben Donaldson with just over four minutes remaining.
The NSW No.10 kicked out on the full to gift the Brumbies field position and a chance to dig the knife into their Sydney rivals who worked so hard to remain in the contest.
Lachlan Lonergan scores for the Brumbies.Credit:Getty
That they did as Toole scored down the left to wrap up yet another victory in an 11-try thriller and consign the Waratahs to a fifth loss in six matches.
“The effort has been there for a lot of the year. It’s just our inaccuracy around some of those decisive parts of the game,” said Waratahs skipper Jake Gordon. “I’m pretty disappointed. I thought we did well for large parts of the game but just a little unlucky at the end there.
“We’re just blinking and missing the jump on a few things.”
There were no beers on offer for travelling Waratahs fans days after a back-handed barb, intended to help sell more tickets, that almost backfired spectacularly.
“It used to be a great rivalry,” Nobbs told the Herald this week. “If they’re good enough to beat us, I’ll meet everyone in the bar at the Meninga stand and shout them all a beer.”
It wasn’t a laughing matter for Gordon after the match.
“According to their chairman it isn’t [a rivalry],” Gordon said with a straight face. “We thought it was a great game tonight. We want the rivalry to keep going, we’ve just got to perform better.”
Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa said: “We made it hard for ourselves but you’ve got to be proud of the boys. We still found a way to win.”
The Waratahs lost the overall penalty count 16-6 – they conceded nine straight penalties before half-time – and were reduced to 13 men at one stage. Any rugby team, in those circumstances, is going to find it mighty hard to claw their way back into the contest.
Max Jorgensen impressed again on both sides of the ball, while Mark Nawaqanitawase scored an outstanding chip-and-chase try when it mattered most.
But it was the Waratahs’ forwards who rolled their sleeves up and overcame extreme fatigue to help keep the game alive.
There was no shortage of passion and intensity. Both teams rose to the occasion in a match Wallabies coach Eddie Jones had made clear was extremely important ahead of his first Australian squad announcement on Sunday.
Jones would have enjoyed what he saw. This was tough, uncompromising rugby.
After a week of headlines about a future Waratah in Joseph Suaalii, NSW turned attention back to the field with the first try of the night courtesy of a Hooper line break and perfect pass to Dylan Pietsch who crossed down the left edge with ease.
When NSW hooker Dave Porecki dotted the ball down on the line after multiple pick and drives – replays were inconclusive but Nic Berry’s on-field decision stood – the Waratahs had opened up a 14-0 lead inside 20 minutes to stun the home side.
New father Len Ikitau pegged a five-pointer back for the Brumbies minutes after a brilliant try-saving tackle and turnover against the run of play in his side’s danger zone.
Awful discipline killed the Waratahs before half-time, with the visitors conceding nine straight penalties with the Brumbies camped on their own line.
Then came the stuff you can’t coach. As the boys in sky blue call it, being “Tah tough”.
Somehow, a Waratahs team with tight-head props Harry Johnson-Holmes and Daniel Botha in the bin prevented a notoriously lethal Brumbies driving maul.
When Cadeyrn Neville was penalised for an obstruction, with the Brumbies thinking they had scored a try, the Waratahs breathed a sigh of relief.
Instead of parking the bus, NSW marched down the other end and watched Jed Holloway bump off backtracking Brumbies to score a morale-boosting five-pointer.
James Slipper bagged a rare try on the stroke of half-time but NSW would have been thrilled with a 21-14 advantage given the carnage of the first half.
Three tries in a frenetic 15 minutes after the break, including two from NSW that began inside their own half, helped this game live up to the hype of years gone by.
It’ll be a long drive back up the Hume Highway for the Waratahs.
