NSW Waratahs coach Darren Coleman packs hooker Mahe Vailanu in his luggage as a good luck charm wherever he goes.
Super sub Vailanu’s pick-and-go try with less than two minutes to play won a gutsy, if sometimes ugly, 21-20 victory over the Highlanders at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.
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The victory was invaluable. The Waratahs will be in the top eight after the end of Culture Round and face arch rivals Queensland in Townsville next Saturday.
What did we learn from a hang-tough victory clinched at the death on a Friday night of Super Rugby Pacific?
1 VICTORIOUS VAILANU
Vailanu has previously linked up with Coleman at Warringah and Gordon for Shute Shield premierships and shared a Major League Rugby title in the US with him at the Los Angeles Giltinis in 2021.
His explosive play can make a real difference. He was the most influential player off the bench from either side with his 14-minute cameo.
He made a string of clutch lineout throws and eight short, sharp ball-carries always took his side forward.
One quick sweep around a lineout enabled him to put winger Dylan Pietsch into a hole.
He always fancies himself close to the line so his try-play was just reward for this low-to-the-ground ball of power.
2 MAKE MORE OF LANGI GLEESON
Correct me if I’m wrong. The Waratahs pass the ball to a fully wound-up Langi Gleeson expecting him to smash a hole in the defence. How come no one ever seems able to fully capitalise on the breaks he inevitably makes by swarming after him?
He made a huge break off a Ben Donaldson pass in the opening 90 seconds yet couldn’t find support or rather couldn't connect with Lalakai Foketi on the inside. Try chance wasted.
He made a 20m pick-and-go a minute into the match against the Hurricanes earlier in the season too. Try chance wasted.
The Waratahs just have to be better in this area.
3 BIG DEFENCE
The match could have gone really sour when the Highlanders hit the lead 20-14 and Foketi was waved to the sin bin.
Instead, the Waratahs dug deep and didn’t concede a try when down to 14 men in that 10-minute period.
Dave Porecki (16), Hugh Sinclair (14), Michael Hooper (12) and Taleni Seu (12) all put up big tackle numbers for the game in the pack.
That sort of grit mattered as did Jake Gordon’s charge down of the Aaron Smith kick in that same period.
4 AARON SMITH
The champion All Blacks halfback left a final memory on his last Super Rugby trip to Sydney before linking with Toyota Verblitz in Japan next season.
Smith almost turned the game at the hour mark when he seized on a Waratahs turnover and pinged a 50-22 kick to set up the Highlanders.
He finished the chance himself with a cheeky pick-and-go snipe from the ruckbase to get his side into the lead.
Thank you. A halfback of skilful quality year after year.
5 PRIDE IN THE JERSEY
It was only fitting that Waratahs winger Dylan Pietsch had a strong game with seven runs for 87m and stressing every first tackle he ran into or through.
He designed the Waratahs First Nations jersey which carried the names of every Indigenous player to represent NSW on the back.
“I’ve designed this jersey to kind of emulate the team’s core values. Number one is we want to play for our people,” Pietsch said.
The roars from the stands at full-time were the strong pointer than the fans admired the grit to this win.
Now, to fix up the hesitancy at the back of one rolling maul that became a turnover, stop bungling little short side plays, never miss touch from a penalty kick again Ben Donaldson and just nail more of your chances.
