The NSW Waratahs have gone down in heart breaking fashion, with a 74th minute Cory Toole try snatching a 40-36 win for the Brumbies in Canberra.
Early in the week it was claimed that the rivalry between the Waratahs and Brumbies was dead, but both teams didn’t seem to get the memo as it was a fiery affair with plenty of feeling from start to finish.
In the best game of the Super Rugby Pacific season, with multiple lead changes throughout the match, the Waratahs put in a strong shift and despite being down to 13 men at one stage, came within minutes of claiming a huge upset win against one of the competition heavyweights.
The Waratahs burst out of the blocks to start the match racing out to a 14-0 lead through tries to Dylan Pietsch and Dave Porecki.
Pietsch finished off a nice short side raid started by Ned Hanigan and Michael Hooper, while Porecki grabbed his try from pick and drive from close range.
In a recurring theme throughout the match the Brumbies were able to hit straight back. Noah Lolesio threaded a grubber through for Len Ikitau to close the gap to 14-7.
The Brumbies started to gain momentum in the match, camping deep inside the Waratahs 22m and managed to force Harry Johnson-Holmes and Dan Botha into the sin bin for repeated infringements.
The Waratahs defence was able to hold strong, and they managed to score a try against the run of play through Jed Holloway while down to 13 men. James Slipper scored the first of his two tries of the night just before the break to close the gap to 21-14.
The second half played out exactly as the first, with the Waratahs extending their lead before conceding almost straight away to the Brumbies.
Foketi scored the first try of the second half and the try of the night, finishing off a long-range Max Jorgensen break down the blind side before Slipper grabbed his second of the night.
A wild ten-minute period ensued with three tries scored between Pete Samu, Mark Naqanitawase, and Lachlan Lonergan, with the Brumbies taking their first lead of the match after their replacement hooker’s try in the 65th minute.
Ben Donaldson kicked a penalty goal in the 73rd minute to give the Waratahs a 36-35 lead before Cory Toole broke the Waratahs hearts with his try in the 77th minute. Ryan Lonergan missed his conversion attempt leaving the scores at 40-36 at full-time.
Waratahs Captain Jake Gordon was once again left ruing costly errors from his side.
“The efforts been there for a lot of the year, its just the inaccuracies around the decisive parts of the game,” Gordon said.
“I’m pretty disappointed, I thought we did well for large parts of the game, but just a little bit unlucky at the end there.
“We made a length of the field effort early in that first half and get chased down and they get numbers on the ball. We’re just blinking at the moment and missing the jump on a few things.”
The Waratahs now head into a much needed bye break and will get some reinforcements from their injury ward ahead of their next match against the Force in Round 8 at Allianz Stadium.
BRUMBIES 40
TRIES: Ikitau, Slipper 2, Samu, L. Lonergan, Toole
CONS: Lolesio 3/3, R. Lonergan 2/3
WARATAHS 36
TRIES: Pietsch, Porecki, Holloway, Foketi, Nawaqanitawase
CONS: Donaldson 4/5
PENS: Donaldson 1/2
BRUMBIES (1-15): James Slipper, Lachlan Lonergan, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Cadeyrn Neville, Rob Valetini, Rory Scott, Pete Samu, Nic White, Noah Lolesio, Corey Toole, Tamati Tua, Len Ikitau, Andy Muirhead, Tom Wright
RESERVES: Rhys Van Nek, Fred Kaihea, Sefo Kautai, Sam Thomson, Jahrome Brown, Ryan Lonergan, Jack Debreczeni, Ben O'Donnell
WARATAHS (1-15): Te Tera Faulkner, Mahe Vailanu, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Jed Holloway, Ned Hanigan, Taleni Seu, Michael Hooper, Will Harris, Jake Gordon (c), Ben Donaldson, Dylan Pietsch, Lalakai Foketi, Izaia Perese, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Max Jorgensen
RESERVES: Tolu Latu, Tom Lambert, Dan Botha, Zac Von Appen, Hunter Ward, Harrison Goddard, Joey Walton, Harry Wilson
Referee: Nic Berry Assistant Referees: Reuben Keane, Matt Kellahan
