Last-quarter blues as Waratahs lose another nail-biter in Johannesburg

Sat, May 11, 2019, 3:33 PM
Iain Payten and wires
by Iain Payten and wires
The Waratahs suffered a gut wrenching 29-28 loss to the Lions in Johannesburg.

The NSW Waratahs' Super Rugby finals hopes are hanging by a thread following a gut-wrenching one-point loss to the Lions in Johannesburg.

The Waratahs led late before a Shaun Reynolds penalty goal in the 68th minute secured the Lions a 29-28 victory on Sunday.

NSW's sixth bonus-point defeat in a 2019 campaign of near misses leaves the Waratahs languishing in 13th place on the ladder and seven points adrift of Australian conference leaders the Melbourne Rebels.

After a helter-skelter, try-for-try opening half that saw NSW up 21-19 at the break, the Waratahs led 28-26 heading into the last quarter.

But some wasteful attack and a 6-0 flurry of penalties against the Waratahs from referee Egon Seconds in the last 20 minutes saw the visitors pinned in their own half.

The Lions turned down several kickable shots but Reynolds eventually banged over a three-pointer to take the lead.

Bernard Foley had a drop-goal attempt soon after but it sailed just right of the posts.

The Waratahs lost the penalty count 11-2 and it was the second time an Australian team had copped a hammering in the penalty count against the Lions with Seconds in charge; the Rebels lost a tight one earlier in the season in Johannesburg and were on the end of a lopsided 20-1 count.

Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said he felt some of the calls in the last quarter were "harsh" but stopped short of blowing up.

'We absorbed a lot of pressure in our own area and I felt calls didn't go our way right at the death there, that perhaps could have," Gibson said.

"There were a couple of calls late in the game I felt were harsh on us. That was the turning point. Particularly the penalty to get the Lions to go up three, I thought that was tough. It was a collapsed maul that was called a tackle.

"But that’s rugby. I am not going to make excuses for the side. It was a close game, any team could have won. Credit to the Lions, they played well."

The Waratahs continued their up-tempo, high passing game plan against the Lions and scored after only three minutes through Nick Phipps, but as would occur frequently in the half, the Lions answered with a try to Aphiwe Dyantyi.


The Tahs scored again through Michael Hooper out wide soon after but the Lions responded with a try to Stephan Lewies.

When Rob Simmons surged through a gap and ran 20 metres to score, the Lions pegged back again through a Kwagga Smith try.

Courtnall Skosan scored first after the break – on what appeared a forward pass – and though it took some time, Tom Staniforth’s 56th minute try gave NSW the lead back.

But the Tahs kicked away too much of their limited possession in the final quarter, and with the penalty count killing them, NSW couldn’t claw past the Lions one last time after Reynolds’ penalty kick.

"I thought it was a really good contest; back and forth tries, some really exciting rugby and down to the wire there with both teams getting opportunities," said Waratahs captain Hooper.

Despite slipping further behind the Rebels, who stretched their lead atop the Australian conference with a 30-24 win over the Queensland Reds on Friday night, Hooper wasn't giving up hope of making the finals.


The Waratahs won't return to Australia empty-handed, having picked up two bonus important points in their narrow losses on the Highveld to the Lions and Bulls.

"Every point counts. We managed to walk away with another one, just short of a win, which is what we desperately wanted today," Hooper said.

"Of course it's better than nothing. We want to build some momentum. We were unable to do that today.

"But there's so much fight in this team."

The Waratahs take on the Reds next Saturday in Brisbane in a must-win encounter for both teams.

It was the seventh defeat by less than eight points for the Waratahs in 2019.

"The margins for us this year have been very close," Gibson said.

"We are a team that shows a lot of fight and a lot of character but we haven't been able to close out those close games and win the critical moments when we need to."

RESULT

Lions 29

Tries: Dyantyi, Lewies, Smith, Skosan

Cons: Jantjies 3

Pens: Reynolds

Waratahs 28

Tries: Phipps, Hooper, Simmons, Staniforth

Cons: Foley 4

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