Work-in-progress Waratahs pip Drua in another chaotic thriller

It is a curious state of affairs when the Waratahs badly miss a player who has played a single game of professional club rugby, but Suaalii is no ordinary athlete. His physicality and aerial presence were badly missed against the Drua.

The Waratahs allowed themselves to get pulled into an unstructured game, seeking to match the Drua with expansive rugby. The home side was also let down by handling errors on a steamy and humid night that cost them at least two try-scoring opportunities in the first half.

The Drua got the first try after Waratahs prop Taniela Tupou misplaced the ball after a tackle that unleashed winger Ponipate Loganimase to run through and score.

Impressive No.8 Gleeson immediately struck back to score at close range to power over for a settling try, after some great work from prop Angus Bell in making ground.

Gleeson was omitted from Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt’s January camp in Sydney, but if he keeps performing like this, it will be impossible to ignore him ahead of the British and Irish Lions tour, regardless of an imminent move to Montpellier.

Drua winger Vuate Karawalevu turned Wallabies winger Darby Lancaster inside out to acrobatically finish in the corner with a smile on his face to underline his side’s reputation as the great entertainers of Super Rugby.

Just before half-time, Gleeson got his second try after Max Jorgensen impressively followed up a speculative kick from halfback Jake Gordon, and stripped the ball from the Drua’s Caleb Muntz, to allow the No.8 to dive on the loose ball to score.

Dave Porecki missed the whole of last season through injury and underlined his importance on the field, not only as a leader, but with a crucial early second-half try from a rolling maul, almost identical to one he scored against the Highlanders in round one.

The Waratahs’ 10-point lead never looked comfortable and second-rower Miles Amatosero’s yellow card for playing the ball illegally left the defence absorbing huge pressure. Loganimasi broke a tackle from Jorgensen to score a converted try to shave down the Waratahs’ lead to just three points.

Having struggled throughout the first half at the set piece, the Drua began to use their momentum to dominate scrums and then sent reserve hooker Mesulame Dolokoto crashing over for an unconverted try to give the visitors a two-point lead.

The Waratahs managed to fight their way back into the game with four minutes left, hooker Mahe Vailanu was the centrepiece of a rolling maul that was illegally stopped. NSW were awarded penalty try that helped to seal a game that they had looked like losing at times.

The Waratahs have made an early valuable habit of winning games that they almost would have certainly lost last year. There is a lot of work to do, but crucially, this team has momentum and hope.