Waratahs Back Home and Loving It

The NSW Waratahs have rebounded from last week’s disappointing loss to the Bulls by hammering the Sharks 31-16 this afternoon in their first home game of the Super 14 season at the Sydney Football Stadium.

NSW played a fairly conservative game in the first half, taking the points on offer whenever the Sharks were penalised, but the second stanza saw the Waratahs play a more expansive style, unfortunately though it went unrewarded as they came up one try short of the four needed for a bonus point.

Winger Peter Hewat had a great day claiming man of the match honours courtesy of a 16 point haul that included four penalties and two conversions, but it was his outstanding counter attacking abilities that made him a standout with his every touch proving dangerous to the Sharks defensive line.

NSW survived an early scare in the opening minute of play when a kick was charged down close to their line, but much to the Waratahs relief the ball trickled just over the dead ball line.

The Sharks continued to be aggressive and it paid dividends as their good work with the ball in hand saw NSW infringe in the fourth minute, which gave Sharks fullback Percy Montgomery the simplest of penalty goal attempts to put his side in front 3-0.

Hewat missed a chance to level the scores when his penalty shot from 45 metres out drifted just wide and Montgomery suffered the same fate when his penalty attempt soon after also missed.

Hewat made up for his earlier failure though landing two penalties to put NSW in front 6-3 after quarter of an hour of play (6-3).

The 18th minute saw the first try of the game when bustling Waratahs centre Morgan Turinui made a bust at the halfway line and strode clear before passing on his outside to Shaun Berne who raced away to touch down in the left hand corner.

Hewat made no mistake with the conversion to push the Waratahs advantage out to 10 points midway through the half (13-3).

Another two Hewat penalty goals in the 23rd and 29th minute saw NSW skip further away and they could have been further in front heading into the main break if not for some sloppy handling close to the Sharks line in the final 10 minutes of the first half (19-3).

A couple of first half misses from Montgomery saw half back Ruan Pienaar take over the kicking duties and he was successful with both is penalty attempts in the 44th and 47th minute to help the Sharks cut the deficit to just 10 points (19-9).

NSW coach Ewen McKenzie saw the danger signs and in the 50th minute introduced livewire Mat Rogers into the game for the first time this season and his impact was immediate as he made a break straight up the middle with his first touch of the ball.

Rogers presence seemed to lift NSW and in the 58th minute a sensational passage of play saw them cross for their second try of the match.

The movement began when Hewat regathered his own chip and then threw a miracle pass to his left that somehow found a charging Wycliff Palu and the big second rower then unselfishly handed it on to a flying Lote Tuquri, who was able to easily run the ball around underneath the black dot (26-9).

The Sharks gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Montgomery scored a runaway intercept try in the 64th minute, but their chances of victory were extinguished when the Waratahs produced a stunning scrum move that ended with Stephen Hoiles diving over in the right hand corner (31-16).

The final 10 minutes saw NSW surge in an effort to secure their fourth try to claim a bonus point and after having one effort disallowed that was as close as they would get, instead having to settle for just the four competition points for the win.

NSW will look to make it consecutive home wins next Friday night when they take on the Cats in Sydney, while the Sharks face another tough task when they play the undefeated ACT Brumbies on Saturday night in Canberra.

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