Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson hopes his young Tens squad has have learned plenty from their experience in Brisbane.
Gibson left most of his Wallabies back in Sydney for the weekend, but the next generation showed their promise.
Flyhalf Mack Mason was one of the standouts, while winger Cam Clark was impressive on the opening day of the tournament.
Scrumhalf Jake Gordon got some valuable game time ahead of next week’s trial, a game that he could start after an injury to regular starter Nick Phipps in training.
The Waratahs were eliminated from the competition by the Hurricanes but Gibson said his group could take plenty out of it.
“I think it's a really valuable experience for all our young guys we brought up, to get this level of competition this early,” he said.
“It's something that's a real advantage for them and will hold them well in their careers.”
The Waratahs threw wildcard Drew Mitchell into the mix in their quarter-final, after a number of bumps to their starting players.
“We were trying to keep him in reserve and obviously we ran out of reserves so he was thrust into it.
“It was probably a little unfair putting him in in the quarter-final but he gave it a crack and that's the main thing.”
The Hurricanes finished 35-24 victors in their quarter-final, with Gibson saying his side looked too much to the middle in the early stages.
“We just found in the first half we were playing a little bit too narrow, we wanted to get the ball to the width and obviously the Hurricanes putting in a great deal of line speed in their defensive pressure,” he said.
The Waratahs play their final Super Rugby trial against the Rebels on Thursday February 15 at Brookvale Oval.
