UPDATE: Waratahs coach Rob Penney says he is "very concerned" by the 'unacceptable" way Friday night's second half slipped away from his team in a 51-14 loss to the Chiefs.
The Waratahs had worked their way back from a 13-point hole to lead at half-time but the Chiefs blew them away with 38 unanswered second-half points to inflict NSW’s biggest loss to the Waikato side.
Asked which half he would put more significance on in review, Penney began in a circumspect manner but quickly revealed his frustration with the final stages.
'You wouldn't be throwing one out and be a dreamer think it was perfect by throwing the second half away or saying it's all completely doom and gloom by not reflecting on what the first half brought for us," he said.
"It's a combination but we've just got to keep it real, it was 51 points. Crikey."
"There's some pretty brutal terms that's been used to describe what that second-half looked like."
Penney said that his side let such a big score pile up was of major concern for him.
"Yeah, very concerned. How does that happen?," he said.
"You witnessed it. We know the Chiefs have got some strong players but don’t want to make any excuses for the group.
There were six clean drops where we just turned over the ball inexplicably...and it's good players doing it.
"That happens through pressure I guess but it’s not acceptable and it’s embarrassing."
Even without excitement machine Damian McKenzie, who is missing on an All Blacks rest week, and six other All Blacks, the Chiefs were able to generate some spectacular scores throughout the game.
The Waratahs were also undermanned, missing injured starters Mark Nawaqanitawase, Rob Simmons and Jake Gordon but it was not their absentees that seemed to be the biggest issue for the Waratahs.
While they were able to match the Chiefs in patches, the inconsistencies that have plagued the Waratahs much of this year reared their head again.
Penney said he felt the Chiefs turned up the heat in the second 40 and the Waratahs simply couldn't meet him.
"I certainly think the Chiefs ratcheted up their intensity and we probably didn't match it and then we had a couple of errors back to back around our defence system, the boys made bad reads and Brad Weber world class nine just ripped us," he said.
"All of a sudden we're 14 points down after six minutes in that second half and we hadn't had the ability to fire a shot."
Defensive lapses, ill-discipline and some serious class from their opposition, including a rapid fire double from Brad Weber, all contributed to the pain of defeat on Friday night.
That it came after a week of positivity for NSW will sting even more, with some senses that this team can take one step forward but then be hit two steps back just a week later.
The Chiefs won an early penalty and it took Aaron Cruden no time to point to the sticks.
Another infringement from the Waratahs gave Cruden a second three-pointer and by the 12th minute the Chiefs flyhalf had three shots at the posts, slotting his first two.
It was a frustrating start for the Waratahs, who gave away six penalties to the Chiefs’ one in the opening 16 minutes of play.
The Waratahs found it hard to get possession in the opening half but once they finally managed to string some attack together, they made the most of it.
Given a penalty chance, first-time skipper Kurtley Beale went straight for the corner and some smart attack from the lineout opened up a chance for Beale to finish what he started.
A powerful drive from Michael Hooper nearly nabbed the Waratahs another but the flanker was held up in-goal.
It appeared as though the Waratahs had let another chance go begging when Jack Dempsey fell over the line after grabbing a juggling offload from Karmichael Hunt.
After video review, Dempsey was deemed to have put the ball down cleanly and all of a sudden the Waratahs found themselves in front.
That lead didn’t last long after the break as Chiefs halfback Brad Weber showed his pace, picking up the pill at the base of a ruck and storming over in the 43rd minute.
Just two minutes later, Weber was over again - this time, the halfback grabbed a no-look out the back pass from Stevenson and sprinted untouched down the right edge.
By the 53rd minute, the Chiefs had obliterated the Waratahs lead and Sean Wainui had stretched the Chiefs’ advantage to 19 points.
A textbook move from a lineout saw flanker Lachlan Boshier crash over with 19 minutes remaining.
Fullback Solomon Alaimalo feasted on an opportunity in the 64th minute, stretching their lead to 32 points in the dying stages.
Just as the pain seemed like it was going away, Anton Lienert-Brown managed to sneak over the line after a Kurtley Beale fumble and make it 38 unanswered second half points.
The Waratahs have nine days to ruminate before they take on the Brumbies in Canberra next Sunday and they are expected to welcome back Rob Simmons and Tom Robertson from injury next week but Jake Gordon is not expected to come back into the 23.
RESULT
Waratahs 14
Tries: Beale, Dempsey
Cons Harrison 2
Chiefs 51
Tries: Weber 2, Stevenson, Wainui, Boshier, Lienert-Brown
Cons: Cruden 2, Trask 2
Pens: Cruden 2
