A 75th minutes try to Ardie Savea has broken the hearts of Waratahs fans as the Hurricanes came away with the 22-18 victory.
Darren Coleman's men started incredibly, building a 15-0 lead at the break as Izaia Perese and the backs run riot in front of an 11,381-strong Leichhardt crowd.
However, the Hurricanes have become renowned for their second-half comebacks and instantly found themselves back into the contest after two quick tries.
With the game in the balance, a late try to Savea sealed the victory as the Hurricanes leapfrog the Waratahs into fourth position.
"It's not ideal isn't it? It's a bit disappointing, disheartening," Coleman said after the match.
"When they went up a notch, we just couldn't go with them. They were more fresh (at the end), when we had momentum with us we looked good, whether it's cream rises eventually or what not but the Kiwis talk about being fitter and playing longer than us and they do.
"We held on against the Crusaders but couldn't do so tonight."
The Waratahs picked up where they left off against the Crusaders, dominating the visitors in the first 20 minutes.
They didn’t touch the ball in the opening quarter as Darren Coleman’s men built relentless pressure on the back of a dominant scrum and the dynamic pairing of Izaia Perese and Lalakai Foketi.
They looked to have opened the scoring through Dylan Pietsch, however, the play was brought back for Jake Gordon kicking the ball back into the scrum.
Despite this, the hosts continued to build pressure and eventually it was another brutal display of scrummaging that created their next chance, this time making no mistake through Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco.
Jason Holland’s men were shellshocked as the relentless Waratahs continued to pile pressure on their attack.
After a half-break from Jed Holloway failed to deliver points, Perese took it upon himself to deliver one of the tries of the year.
With his effort from last week disallowed, the Wallaby somehow one-upped his efforts from Moana as he burst down the sidelined, delivering a freakish offload to Pietsch as they took a 15-0 lead into half-time
However, this is a position the Hurricanes are more than familiar with, hitting straight back after the break via Tevita Mafielo.
Whilst the Waratahs created plenty of chances, a lack of execution came back to haunt them when Bailyn Sullivan crossed to the corner to level it up.
It went from bad to worse for the hosts as man of the match Perese limped from the field with a knee injury after colliding with Aiden Morgan.
Ben Donaldson briefly gave them the lead with a penalty but when they needed him the most, Ardie Savea delivered as the Hurricanes took the lead for the first time in the 75th minute.
One last Waratahs break looked promising but intervention from the TMO saw the play stopped and Paddy Ryan red-carded for a high shot on Jordie Barrett.
This sealed the game as the Hurricanes held on for a gutsy win, vaulting them into the top four for the time being.
Meanwhile, the Waratahs will prepare for a trip to Dunedin likely without Perese, with Coleman confirming he had likely suffered an MCL injury after the game.
"He'll go for scans tomorrow but looks like it's a pretty nasty one," he added on Perese.
"He does things other people can't do. He's a powerful, quality player when he is on."
HURRICANES 22
TRIES: Mafileo, Sullivan, A.Savea
CONS: Barrett 2/3
PENS: Barrett 1/2
WARATAHS 18
TRIES: Warren-Vosayaco, Pietsch
CONS: Edmed 1/2
PENS: Edmed 1/2, Donaldson 1/1
Waratahs: 15 Alex Newsome, 14 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Lalakai Foketi, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 Tane Edmed, 9 Jake Gordon (captain), 8 Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco, 7 Charlie Gamble, 6 Will Harris, 5 Hugh Sinclair, 4 Jed Holloway, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Dave Porecki, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Mahe Vailanu, 17 Teterta Faulkner, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Max Douglas, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Jack Grant, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Triston Reilly.
Hurricanes: 15 Josh Moorby, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Bailyn Sullivan, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Salesi Rayasi, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 Jamie Booth, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 TK Howden, 5 Justin Sangster, 4 James Blackwell, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Xavier Numia.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Tevita Mafileo, 18 Owen Franks, 19 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 20 Caleb Delany, 21 Cameron Roigard, 22 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 23 Billy Proctor.
Referee: Jordan Way
Assistant referees: Nic Berry, Damon Murphy
