The NSW Waratahs and Blues were stuck in a tussle for most of the night as the visitors came away with the 12-10 win.
It was a game where everything seemed to go wrong for both sides, with the Blues having enough class to close out the win.
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So what did we learn?
The Waratahs had no answer for the Blues defence until at the end of the 80 minutes.
There were brief sparks in attack but they couldn’t deliver the killer blow as they turned them away time and time again.
Credit to the visitors, they were not at their best in attack but did everything necessary to turn away the Waratahs when they applied pressure.
But the Blues will need to be better next week against the Crusaders, even if they sit 0-4 for the year.
At the start of the week, Jay Fonokalafi was on a job site pouring concrete. Now, the hooker has a Super Rugby try.
It was a tough night for the Waratahs and Waratah fans but the story of Fonokalafi is inspiring.
The hooker with one of the better haircuts in Rugby only spent a couple of days in the Waratahs system but it must’ve been on maul trick plays as he squeezed over the line.
It’s a credit to the Tongan international, with the 28-year-old finally getting his chance after toiling away in Shute Shield.
The battle for the Wallabies 13 jersey continues to go to another level as Izaia Perese answers Josh Flook’s strong game from Friday.
Perese was the key attacking threat for the Waratahs and looked dangerous with every touch. He would’ve eyed off the matchup with Rieko Ioane but the All Black went down in the first three minutes with a head knock.
The Waratah has 16 tackle busts in his last two games and has really taken further onus in the attack with usual partner Lalakai Foketi on the mend.
It sets up an interesting battle with Len Ikitau going down with an injury earlier in the day.
Stephen Perofeta may want to try a different pair of boots next week against the Crusaders.
He entered the game with a 58% kicking record and it went downhill as he ultimately kept the Waratahs in the game.
Perofeta went 1/5 for the night, including a bad miss from right in front as the crowd jeered him louder with every attempt.
He made up for it in defence with a perfect ankle tackle on Triston Reilly to stop a Waratahs try.
The Waratahs’ kick choice let them down against the Blues.
The focus on winning the territory battle saw them opt to keep heading to the air and whilst it’s not a bad strategy against the Blues, you need to execute.
There were too many plays like Mark Nawqanitawase’s snap kick straight to Telea that just invited pressure, coming back to haunt them when Jake Gordon put a foot out right as he was clearing, allowing the Blues to rumble and eventually score.
