Rob Horne flies in for the first of his two tries in the Waratahs’ 41-13 dismantling of the Lions
at Allianz Stadium – Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

by Brendan Bradford –

The Waratahs are poised for a run at the finals after notching a bonus-point win over the Lions to climb to second place in the Australian conference, just one point behind the Brumbies.

The 41-13 win leaves the Waratahs on 34 competition points and sees them leapfrog the Western Force, who lost to the Stormers on Saturday. Crucially, in the overall standings the Tahs also have a game in hand over the pacesetting Brumbies, who are yet to have their second bye.

Now fourth on the overall ladder, the Tahs are away to the Rebels and Chiefs over the next two weeks before the June Test window and a final three matches against the Brumbies, Highlanders and Reds.

The Lions have never won in Sydney and are on a five match losing streak on tour, but the Waratahs had a fight on their hands for 50-minutes as the game went back and forth before quick-fire tries to Rob Horne and Adam Ashley-Cooper after halftime put the game beyond doubt.

“In the first half we had a lot of ball, we put on a lot of play but we weren’t really clear in the score and that can sometimes unnerve teams,” said coach Michael Cheika.

Man-of-the-Match Bernard Foley scored 21 points – Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

“I thought the team did well just to maintain its shape and the way we wanted to attack, but also the way we wanted to defend because they’re a dangerous team and we wanted to put a lot of pressure on them with linespeed so they couldn’t put their moves on.”

While the five try to one attacking effort was the standout, the defensive effort Cheika spoke about kept the Lions scoreless in the second half.

“I don’t think anybody would have been happy with the try we gave away in the first half, that was soft,” said Cheika of a rolling maul five-pointer in the opening quarter.

He also acknowledged the closeness of the competition as a whole, but wasn’t looking too far ahead.

“It’s tight all round, the Highlanders, Hurricanes and Bulls are still well and truly in it and have got a nice run of domestic matches,” he said.

“The Blues could go on a run and what we need to do is just concentrate on the next game and not get carried away because as much as you think ‘ hey, we might get in,’ you could think ‘hey, we might miss out as well,’ so we just need to keep a level head and think about the next game.”

The Waratahs jumped into action early, spreading the ball across the width of the field and Horne thought he had the opening breakthrough but it was called back for a forward pass.

The Lions couldn’t get out of their own half as the Waratahs kept up the pace and flyhalf Bernard Foley broke the line and stretched over for the first try and a 7-0 lead.

The Lions have a dominant forward pack and hit back quickly when flanker Jaco Kriel dived over from an impressive rolling maul.

The Tahs were unperturbed and hit the attack with Israel Folau and Kurtley Beale linking nicely to get within striking distance while Foley added a penalty for a 10-7 lead.

The Lions were again quick to respond with Marnitz Boshoff tallying a three-pointer of his own to level the score after 22-minutes.

Kurtley Beale runs in for the Waratahs second try off a terrific grubber from Bernard Foley
Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

Beale ensured it was a point a minute when he finished off a deft Foley grubber under the sticks for a 17-10 lead before Boshoff hit the crossbar with an audacious 50-metre drop goal attempt. The effort bounced back into play but the Lions flyhalf was spot on with another penalty on the half-hour mark for a four point difference.

Ill-discipline and handling errors kept the Tahs at bay and the Lions had the better of the final minutes of the first half but couldn’t add to their score.

If Horne was denied a try by a forward pass in the first half, he left no doubt about his effort at the start of the second stanza. Taking the ball just inside the Lions’ half, the Waratahs winger bounced off one tackler, veered in-field and gassed the cover to score behind the posts for a 24-13 lead.

It got worse for the Lions when winger Deon van Rensburg was sin-binned for not rolling away as the Tahs staged another try-line assault.

That setback was compounded when Adam Ashley-Cooper ran onto a sublime Beale chip, kicked again and scored on the left for the bonus point try. Foley landed his fifth kick of the afternoon for a commanding 31-13 advantage after 50-minutes.

Wycliff Palu and Will Skelton were making their presence felt with a series of heavy hits and strong runs as Horne almost went in for his second but had the ball dislodged in a desperate tackle ten metres out from the line.

With 20-minutes to play another Foley penalty gave the Tahs a 21-point lead but the Lions weren’t done, piling on the pressure in the closing quarter but unable to trouble the scorers.

Giant back Taqele Naiyaravoro and Eastwood hooker Hugh Roach made their Waratahs debuts in the final ten minutes as Cheika cleared the bench in a dominant victory.

Horne capped off a great individual performance by barrelling over the line for a second try as the final siren sounded, giving the Tahs a spirited 41-13 victory.

NSW Waratahs 41 (Rob Horne 2, Bernard Foley, Kurtley Beale, Adam Ashley-Cooper tries; Bernard Foley 5 cons, 2 pens) defeated Lions 13 (Josh Kriel try; Marnitz Boshoff con, 2 pens)