Bernard Foley kicked four penalties to help the Waratahs beat the Brumbies 24-17 in Canberra on Saturday. DYLAN JACK reports.
A game that was lacking in quality ultimately came down to a battle of the kickers, which Foley won despite missing four kicks at goal.
The visitors opened the scoring through a Foley penalty, before suffering a blow when fullback Israel Folau was forced off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury after just four minutes.
The Brumbies hit back with a couple of penalties from flyhalf Wharenui Hawera to take the lead. After a Foley penalty leveled matters at 6-6, the home side took the lead when Hawera grubbered the ball into the in-goal area for Lausii Taliauli to score.
Australian derbies have gained a reputation for being scrappy error-filled contests, and this game was no different. Both sides made a plethora of handling errors to end promising moves.
On the stroke of half-time, big wing Taqele Naiyaravoro found space out wide after a turnover and sprinted 50m to score, with Foley’s conversion putting the Tahs 13-11 up at the break.
Naiyaravoro got his brace just after the start of the second half as Alex Newsome found space from a planned move, and offloaded to the Fijian-born 26-year-old, who scored in the corner.
Hawera kicked his third penalty of the match to narrow the scores, before the Waratahs piled the pressure on their hosts.The visitors, however, were ultimately not patient enough with ball-in-hand to finish off their opportunities.
Foley extended the Tahs lead to seven points with a penalty, but a Hawera penalty again made it a four-point game with only 10 minutes to go.
However, Foley kicked another two penalties to ensure that the home side would have to score twice to win, something they could not manage despite a late attack on the Waratahs tryline.
Brumbies – Try: Lausii Taliauli. Penalties: Wharenui Hawera (3).
Waratahs – Tries: Taqele Naiyaravoro (2). Conversion: Bernard Foley. Penalties: Foley (4).
Brumbies – 15 Andy Muirhead, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano (c), 11 Lausii Taliauli, 10 Wharenui Hawera, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 David Pocock, 6 Lachlan McCaffrey, 5 Blake Enever, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio.
Subs: 16 Robbie Abel, 17 Faalelei Sione, 18 Mees Erasmus, 19 Richie Arnold, 20 Tom Cusack, 21 Matt Lucas, 22 Kyle Godwin, 23 Tom Banks.
Waratahs – 15 Bryce Hegarty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Jed Holloway, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Michael Wells, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Ned Hannigan, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Damien Fitzpatrick, 1 Tom Robertson
Subs: 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Will Miller, 21 Mitchell Short, 22 Lalakai Foketi, 23 Alex Newsome
Photo: Getty Images
