A dominant performance from the Waratahs at home saw the men in blue runaway with a 38 – 20 victory and win back the Weary Dunlop Shield
Darren Colemans' side has now won three in a row for the first time since 2018 and have ended a two-game losing streak against the Rebels.
A great night for running rugby saw the forwards win the battle at the scrum and lineout and the backs showed off their class with some remarkable finishing.
Ben Donaldson had his best performance of the year, kicking four from four with the tee and adding a try assist to his name.
David Porecki was a standout at the set piece alongside Jed Holloway.
Whilst Joey Walton put in good minutes after Lalakai came off early with an injury.
The Rebels came out of the gates firing with two quick tries to start off the fight for the Weary Dunlop Shield.
Reece Hodge scored and converted the first try, assisted by a Carter Gordon pass.
Carter couldn’t stay out of the game as he made a line break that eventuated in Monty Ioane scoring in the corner to give the Rebels a 14-point lead 13 minutes in.
The Tahs would strike back through a clinical rolling maul.
Porecki threw to the back and navigated his way towards the line, an infringement from Brad Wilkin saw referee Damon Murphy award a penalty try and send the visiting skipper to 10 minutes in the bin.
With one comes two, no more than 3 minutes later Gordon, like a thief in the night, pounced on a loose ball from a scrappy lineout.
50 meters out, he pinned his ears back and raced towards the line before crashing over. Donaldson was able to convert from the sideline to draw up the match.
The Rebels who had the majority of the possession, looked to score once more before the half finished.
Through some heroic line defence from Will Harris and Ben Donaldson, the Waratahs were able to keep the Rebels out with two momentous defensive efforts.
However, as the half came to a close Reece Hodge was able to kick the visitors in front with a penalty goal 22 meters out. The Tahs headed into the sheds down 14-17.
The second half told a different story from the first. Coleman's men started off the final 40 minutes with another brutal rolling maul.
A duplicate from the first half, referee Damon Murphy had no choice but to award the men in blue their second penalty try and send another Rebel to the bin.
The Waratahs took advantage of the extra man as Mark Nawaqanitawase showed off one of his signature flying finish to grab a spectacular try in the corner.
Donaldson continued his perfect record for the night slotting the conversion from the sideline.
With momentum behind them, the Waratahs marched their way back into the Rebel's half. An ill-disciplined Rebels side allowed Donaldson to kick over an easy three points to extend the lead.
Donaldson would then cap off a brilliant night with a show-and-go that lead to a line break. He was able to take contact from the fullback and offload the ball to a charging Izaia Perese who went over untouched.
Waratahs Captain Jake Gordon touched on his team's impressive win: “I’m stoked!”
“We were under the pump at the start of the year, you can see us building nicely.”
Gordon also touched upon his team's impressive defensive stand late in the first half!
“The way we defended was super impressive”.
“That 32-to-38-minute period where they were on our 5-metre line for six minutes, for them to come away with only three points, that’s where I think the game sort of changed.”
The Waratahs now face Fijian Drua who have been in red-hot form this year.
This will be a doubleheader with the Wallaroos who will play their first game of the year against Fiji.
Saturday 20 May, Wallaroos kick-off at 5:00 PM followed by the Waratahs who kick-off at 7:30 PM.
WARATAHS (1-15): Te Tera Faulkner, Dave Porecki, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Jed Holloway, Hugh Sinclair, Will Harris, Michael Hooper, Langi Gleeson, Jake Gordon (c), Ben Donaldson, Dylan Pietsch, Lalakai Foketi, Izaia Perese, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Max Jorgensen
RESERVES: Mahe Vailanu, Nephi Leatigaga, Archer Holz, Ola Tauelangi, Charlie Gamble, Teddy Wilson, Joey Walton, Harry Wilson
REBELS (1-15): Matt Gibbon, Jordan Uelese, Sam Talakai, Josh Canham, Trevor Hosea, Vaiolini Ekuasi, Brad Wilkin (c), Richard Hardwick, Ryan Louwrens, Carter Gordon, Monty Ioane, David Feliuai, Reece Hodge, Lachie Anderson, Andrew Kellaway
RESERVES: Alex Mafi, Cabous Eloff, Pone Fa'amausili, Tim Cardell, Tamati Ioane, James Tuttle, Stacey Ili, Joe Pincus
Referee: Damon Murphy
Assistant Referees: Jordan Way, David Conway
