Waratahs Fail to Bloom

The NSW Waratahs dream of a first Super 14 title has been shattered by a late penalty goal from Wellington Hurricanes replacement fly half Jimmy Gopperth that gave the home side a famous 16-14 victory tonight at a capacity Westpac Stadium.

NSW looked set for reappearance in the Super 14 final when two second half Peter Hewat penalty goals had given them the narrowest of leads, but in the end it wasn’t quite enough as the Hurricanes supremacy finally told courtesy of Gopperth’s long range effort.

However, after the game all of the talk surrounded the scrum penalty awarded against the Waratahs by South African referee Jonathan Kaplan that led to the Gopperth game winner.

“It was one of those fifty fifty calls that could have gone either way, but that’s life,” said departing captain Chris Whittaker who is leaving to play in Ireland for the next two seasons.

NSW flanker Phil Waugh was a little more blunt with his assessment though when he spoke to Fox Sports Greg Martin straight after the match.

“Why would we try to collapse the scrum? It was the perfect attacking opportunity.”

“We had nothing to lose tonight and the guys dug in so it is just a disappointing result.”

After a tumultuous week that had seen them suffer through a drug scandal and an earthquake the Waratahs bad run continued to start the match against the Hurricanes as the home side dominated possession, field position and the score board in the opening 10 minutes of the game opening up an early 6-0 lead courtesy of penalty goals to half back Piri Weepu and fly half David Holwell.

With their backs to the wall NSW were finally able to get their hands on the ball for more than one phase at a time and it paid dividends for the Waratahs with dynamic winger Lote Tuquri making a bust straight up the middle and from the next passage of play full back Mat Rogers was able to shift the ball quickly to winger Peter Hewat who was able to dive over in the right hand corner for the first try of the game.

Hewat missed his conversion attempt to the left to leave NSW trailing 6-5 after 15 minutes.

Six minutes later the Waratahs found themselves in front 8-6 when Hewat knocked over a simple penalty goal after the Hurricanes had been pinged for being offside.

That advantage only lasted to the half hour mark when a simple scrum move from Wellington saw lightning fast winger Lome Fa’atau ghost through the NSW defensive line for the simplest of tries, which Holwell then converted to push the Hurricanes lead out 13-8.

The home side missed two golden chances to extend their advantage going into half time with firstly a dropped ball close to the try line ending a promising movement and then much to the home crowd’s chagrin full back Shannon Paku wasn’t able to reach a Holwell grubber before it went dead in goal.

The second half started much the same as the first with the Hurricanes dominating proceedings, but they couldn’t translate that into points with Weepu hitting a penalty goal attempt of the left hand upright to keep the score at 13-8.

That miss didn’t deter Wellington as they continued to pummel the Waratahs defensive line, but amazingly in the 65th minute on their first foray into Hurricanes territory it was NSW who were able to get points on the board and close the gap to just two points thanks to a Hewat penalty goal.

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie turned to his bench players to help the visitors cause and it was hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and flanker Wycliff Palu who made the difference as their drive forward led to the go ahead penalty goal from Hewat in the 67th minute (14-13).

NSW were only able to enjoy their lead for just on two minutes though as referee Kaplan awarded a dubious scrum penalty against them and with the pressure on replacement fly half Jimmy Gopperth kicked Wellington into a 16-14 lead with 10 minutes left in the match.

A rushed field goal effort from Tuquri five minutes from time ended up being the Waratahs only chance at redemption as the Hurricanes expertly wound down the clock to book their place in the final next week against either fellow New Zealanders the Canterbury Crusaders or the South African based Bulls.

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