The NSW Waratahs face the ultimate dilemma in their final Super Rugby clash of the regular season against the Auckland Blues at Eden Park, knowing they not only need to win, but win well to ensure themselves of advancing to the play-offs.
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The losing bonus point pushes the Tahs one point ahead of the Brumbies, who will secure the Australian conference title if they pick up a point at home to the Western Force on Saturday.
The Rebels raced to a 24-7 halftime lead but the Reds staged a superb recovery courtesy of two gallant tries from Liam Gill even though it was not enough in the end.
But the Blues were too good to roll over as they looked to finish their season on a high, so when Francis’ slalom run saw him go over on 49 minutes to cap a slick counter, suddenly they were back in front. The record stands at 0 wins from 12 matches across the Tasman.
The Blues also defeated the Brumbies last week, meaning the bottom placed New Zealand side has defeated the top two Australian sides in the past fortnight.
Umaga says they still have things to learn and build on for next season but he’s happy with the way they managed to grind out the win.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham has made just one change to his starting XV, promoting Ruan Smith to tighthead prop for his 50th game and moving Ben Alexander to the bench. The Waratahs now have 8 wins from 15 matches.
On average every time the Waratahs scored a try within three minutes the Blues responded by scoring a try of their own.
Matt Toomua was amongst the try scorers against Western Force.
“We just put pressure on ourselves”, Waratahs captain Michael Hooper said.
But the Aucklanders hit back four minutes later when Patrick Tuipulotu latched onto Tevita Li’s pass and crashed over in the corner.
The second penalty try was awarded to the Blues, when the Waratahs collapsed a maul close to their line.
Fraser awarded the first penalty try to the Waratahs, maintaining the Blues hadn’t kept their end of the deal with a defensive scrum and had no hesitation when running to the sticks to reward the visitors with a five-pointer.
But they were able to hit back again nearly immediately when Piers Francis went on a jinking run and weaved past five tacklers before touching down.
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The tit-for-tat scoring continued with Malani Nanai adding a fourth for the Blues, then Angus Ta’avao doing the same for the Waratahs.
