Waratahs hand Rebels a six-tries-to-one drubbing to retain Weary Dunlop Shield

May 24 • General News, Super Rugby • 1517 Views • Comments Off on Waratahs hand Rebels a six-tries-to-one drubbing to retain Weary Dunlop Shield

Rebels 19 – NSW Waratahs 41

The NSW Waratahs have avenged last year’s loss to the Rebels in Melbourne with a six-tries-to-one 41-19 drubbing at AAMI Stadium, leaving coach Michael Cheika smiling and retaining the Weary Dunlop Shield.

“All in all, very pleasing,” said Cheika after last night’s win. “It’s a good game to come and win and we got a bonus point which is magic, so I’m very satisfied with the lads.”

“We stuck at our work, we defended well and backed each other up to score some tries.”

The Waratahs arrived in Melbourne hunting consistency, retention of the coveted Weary Dunlop Shield and three wins on the trot for the first time in 2014.
From the kick-off, the visitors went straight to work, bombarding the Rebels’ line with attacking raids but finding a crack didn’t come easy.

In the first two minutes, centre Kurtley Beale had a penalty goal hit the woodwork and flyhalf Bernard Foley was pulled down by Melbourne’s Mitch Inman, with the line within stretching distance.

The Tahs finally took the lead in the fourth minute with a penalty goal from the boot of Foley. They looked set to extend their lead but Alofa Alofa’s pass to Israel Folau, who had a clear 50 metre dash to the line, was knocked down by the opposition.

Some 40 metres out from the Rebels line, and leading by three, the Waratahs found their mojo, crossing for the first try of the match from a set piece scrum.

Half Nick Phipps found Foley who darted cross field, dummied to Beale on the outside before finding Rob Horne on the inside. The winger outpaced two defenders and then outmuscled the last line to storm his way over to give the Waratahs an 8-0 lead.

Rebels fullback James Woodward narrowed the gap to 8-3 with a penalty goal, 18 minutes in. Another penalty goal at the 22-minute mark and a third straight goal, four minutes later, gave the Rebels the lead 9-8 for the first and the last time in the match.

Cheika’s men – led by an exemplary performance from their skipper Dave Dennis – regained the lead just after the half hour mark, when Foley found the target with a second penalty attempt for an 11-9 lead.

Three minutes from halftime, Beale put centre Adam Ashley-Cooper into space and the hard running outside back pirouetted past the defence for his side’s second try, his 20th in Super Rugby, to take him past 100 Super Rugby points.

Despite scoring two first tries to nil, the Tahs led by only 16-9 when Foley missed the conversion.

The Rebels dodged another bullet right on half-time, when hooker Pat Leafa was given a yellow card for a ruck infringement and from the ensuing penalty, Foley hit the upright for the second time. Even though the Waratahs were in command with 70% possession, they led by only seven at the break.

The Rebels were down to 14 men but posted first points in the second half, with another penalty to Woodward.

Foley replied with a three-pointer of his own before flanker Michael Hooper gave the Waratahs breathing space. The ball popped out of a scrum and while the others were looking at it, Hooper scooped it up, put his head down and charged 15 metres to dive over for the visitors’ third try. It was Hooper’s 10th try in Super Rugby and it gave the Waratahs a more comfortable 12-point buffer, 24-12.

The Waratahs looked set to run away with it but Melbourne winger Telusa Veainu gave the Rebels life on the hour mark, taking an intercept when the Tahs looked set to cross and racing 90 metres to lift his teammates with a try. Woodward added the conversion to take the difference to just five.

Four minutes later, Beale took it out of the Rebels’ reach when the Waratahs’ 9-10-12 combined for the bonus-point try and the best five pointer of the match.

After multiple phases, Phipps made a break 30 metres out and advanced to the 20 where he popped a short ball to Foley. The flyhalf was brought down five metres out but managed to offload to Beale in support, who charged over next to the posts. A simple conversion from Foley gave the Tahs a comfortable 31 -19 lead.

Fullback Israel Folau made inroads every time he touched the ball and in the 71st minute he finally broke his try-scoring drought. Beale again was the instigator, cutting out Ashley-Cooper with a pass and finding Folau. The 15 powered past defenders with ease to touch down for his 10th try in 2014, equalling the record for most tries by a Waratah in a Super Rugby season, set by Peter Hewatt in 2005.

The Waratahs weren’t finished though and replacement half Brendan Mckibbin completed the scoring when he snuck over for the Tahs’ sixth try.

NSW’s 41-19 win was their first away win in Australia in 2014. The Tahs have now scored 16 tries in their last three matches and, for the first time since 2002, scored four tries or more tries in three consecutive matches.

NSW Waratahs 41 (Horne, Ashley-Cooper, Hooper, Beale, Folau, McKibbin tries; Foley con, 3 pens) def Rebels 19 (Veainu try; Woodward con, 4 pens) at AAMI Park, Melbourne.

NSW Waratahs: 1. Benn Robinson (Eastwood), 2.Tatafu Polota Nau (Parramatta), 3. Paddy Ryan (Sydney University), 4. Jacques Potgieter (Eastern Suburbs), 5. Kane Douglas (Southern Districts), 6. Dave Dennis (Sydney University, captain), 7. Michael Hooper (Manly), 8. Wycliff Palu (Manly), 9. Nick Phipps (Sydney University), 10. Bernard Foley (Sydney University), 11. Rob Horne (Southern Districts), 12. Kurtley Beale (Randwick), 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Northern Suburbs), 14. Alofa Alofa (West Harbour), 15 Israel Folau (Sydney University).

Replacements: 16. Hugh Roach (Eastwood), 17. Jeremy Tilse (Sydney University), 18. Sekope Kepu (Randwick), 19. Will Skelton (Sydney University), 20. Stephen Hoiles (Randwick), 21. Brendan McKibbin (Eastern Suburbs), 22. Jono Lance (Eastern Suburbs), 23. Matt Carraro (Randwick).
Melbourne Rebels: 1. Toby Smith, 2. Pat Leafa, 3. Paul Alo-Emile, 4. Cadeyrn Neville, 5. Luke Jones, 6. Colby Fainga’a, 7. Scott Fuglistaller, 8. Scott Higginbotham (captain), 9. Ben Meehan, 10. Bryce Hegarty, 11. Tom Kingston, 12. Mitch Inman, 13. Tom English, 14. Telusa Veainu, 15. Jason Woodward.

Replacements: 16. Steve Fualau, 17. Cruze Ah-Nau, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Hugh Pyle, 20. Sean McMahon, 21. Josh Holmes, 22. Jack Debreczeni, 23. Lalakai Foketi.Half-time: Waratahs 16 Rebels 9

Yellow cards: P. Leafa (41st minute)

Referee: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia)