Forlorn coach Darren Coleman conceded he was "embarrassed" after watching his NSW Waratahs limp into the Super Rugby Pacific finals with a shock 33-24 loss to wooden spooners Moana Pasifika in Sydney.
The previously winless Pasifika crashed Michael Hooper's farewell party in stunning fashion with a five-tries-to-four boilover victory on Saturday night.
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A crowd of almost 20,000 fans left Allianz Stadium disappointed and disbelieving having expected a stylish send-off for the former Wallabies captain.
Playing his last-ever home game for the Waratahs, Hooper instead featured in one of NSW's most humiliating defeats.
"It was bad on all fronts," Coleman said.
"You've got that yucky feeling in the bottom of your stomach that you didn't perform there how you wanted. It was bad for Hoops to finish like that. It was bad for momentum into play-offs that we played so badly.
"It's hurting now. (I am) embarrassed now off the back of that.
"We had such a good opportunity with such a good crowd and what would have been a good event to finish on a high. You see those juniors march in and you really want to win them over on the sport by having a team they look up to and we dish up that s***." Already certain to finish sixth and playing the Blues in next week's quarter-finals, the match was a dead rubber.
But the lacklustre loss was still hardly the confidence-boosting performance the Waratahs would have been looking for ahead of a treacherous sudden-death trip to Auckland.
Apart from no Australian team having ever won a finals match across the Tasman, NSW's record against the Blues in New Zealand makes for grim reading.
"We're probably in a similar position to where I was when I took on the job. No one gave us too much of a chance," Coleman said.
"There was a lot of negative chat. I'll figure out how I try and get us up. I'm hurting now. I'll be ready to go by 6am tomorrow.”
The defeat comes with a massive injury toll, with captain Jake Gordon long odds to play after suffering a head knock minutes into his stint off the bench.
Harry Johnson-Holmes and Izaia Perese are also in doubt whilst the Waratahs will likely welcome Lalakai Foketi back.
