New South Wales Waratahs have overcome a night of dreadful handling to defeat a stubborn Blues outfit in Sydney.
The defending champions were a shadow of the side that looked so impressive against the Brumbies last week as they spurned a number of excellent try-scoring opportunities in the 12-point win. Referee Jaco Peyper earned the ire of the home fans as he blew 22 penalties but Waratahs coach Michael Cheika was reluctant to blame the whistle-blower for his side's disjointed display.
"I think the crowd just wanted us to score. That's pretty normal. I wanted us to score as well," Cheika said of the persistent booing. "So that's the home crowd. That's what we want. That's what we've been looking for over the years - to get the crowd into the game. Over the last year or two, that's been happening more and more and we enjoy it."
The Blues were forced to defend for much of the match but stayed in touch with some resilient defence. But an inspired defensive effort was ultimately of little comfort for the visitors as they fell to their sixth straight defeat of 2015.
Kurtley Beale and Israel Folau were quick to make their presence felt early on as they picked up a number of touches in a strong opening period for the home side. And the home fans were soon treated to a wonderfully-worked set-move try from the Waratahs with Nick Phipps finishing off the play under the sticks. Using quality lineout ball, flanker Michael Hooper ran into a yawning gap from a Beale pass and drew the fullback to send Phipps over. Peyper called for the TMO to check the final pass but both officials agreed the ball had come backwards from Hooper's hands.
Badly outplayed in the early stages, the Blues managed to get themselves on the scoreboard with a penalty to fly-half Dan Bowden on 13 minutes. But it wasn't long before the visitors were again under pressure as the Waratahs used a rolling maul to move within reach of the try-line. The ball was soon moved wide to winger Taqele Naiayaravoro, who looked to have scored the home side's second try. But the play was referred to the TMO for an earlier knock-on and that proved to be the case.
A second Bowden penalty brought the Blues to within one point of the defending champions as the clock wound towards 25 minutes. The Waratahs had infringed heavily in the opening half hour and they eventually received a final warning from Peyper as hooker Tolu Latu entered a maul from the side. That penalty afforded Bowden another shot at goal but he couldn't split the uprights and the score remained 7-6 to the home side.
Having already given up one try-scoring opportunity, Waratahs coach Michael Cheika must have been livid when a flowing phase passage finished in a knock-on in the corner. While it wasn't Sekope Kepu who spilled the final pass, the Waratahs prop was largely to blame for his failure to find an unmarked Rob Horne. And the coach must have been further infuriated when the Waratahs failed to use static scrum ball and Peyper awarded the Blues the feed. The 7-6 half-time scoreline flattered the visitors but the Waratahs only had themselves to blame for poor discipline and handling.
If Cheika's half-time message had been about handling then it had little effect on the Waratahs as they blew an excellent early opportunity with another dropped ball. The home side continued to pressure the Blues' line but the visitors again held firm, despite one Waratahs passage lasting 17 phases.
The Blues had barely touched the ball in the second half but they achieved the most unlikely of leads on 53 minutes. A relatively innocuous midfield bomb wasn't collected by the Waratahs, allowing the Blues to regather and roll forward. Some nice link play from replacement hooker and All Blacks veteran Keven Mealamu kept the movement going and, after moving the ball out to the left wing, centre Francis Saili muscled his way over.
Bernard Foley reduced the gap with a penalty almost immediately after the kick-off and he added a further three points to wrestle back the lead for the Waratahs at 13-11 right on the hour mark.
The Blues continued to frustrate the Waratahs defensively but the workload was beginning to take its toll on their discipline as Foley extended the lead to five points 12 minutes out from full-time.
In a major blow to the visitors' chances skipper Jerome Kaino was then sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Dave Dennis. It looked to be a tough call on the veteran back-rower with replays pointing to a head clash rather than any illegality. Beale was unable to land the long-range penalty following Kaino's departure leaving the score 16-11 with eight minutes to play.
But it mattered little as the home side finally found a second try for the night through replacement winger Peter Betham. A strong run from another replacement Sam Lousi got the Waratahs inside the Blues' quarter and, after some nice offloading from Latu, Will Skelton and Mitchell Chapman, Betham crossed for his second try of the season.