The Waratahs will be searching furiously for answers after another gut-wrenching defeat, but unlike last Friday against the Highlanders, it is safe to say the Waratahs were slightly flattered by the scoreboard against the Blues on Saturday in Sydney.
For much of the game, the Waratahs were camped in their own half, often heroically defending against a hugely physical Blues pack.
Langi Gleeson and Charlie Gamble put in a major shift for the Waratahs in defence, but were largely unable to punch through the gainline, with the entrance of Angus Bell after only 30 minutes giving a sharper point of attack for the Waratahs that was badly needed.
Possession was precious and often hard to come by, and the late try from debutant reserve hooker Jay Fonokalafi gave the fans some hope that was ultimately quelled.
What are the key takeaways after a frustrating night of rugby for NSW fans?
Discipline is an issue: It was not a good night for the Waratahs with the referee, finding themselves penalised 15 times to the Blues’ nine penalties. Evidently, the Waratahs will be delving into their discipline closely in the video analysis session on Monday, particularly at the breakdown for not rolling away.
If the Blues’ normally reliant kicker Stephen Perofeta had brought the right kicking boots, instead of missing three penalties and a conversion, the scoreline would have been a lot wider.
Width brings Tahs to life: It was not a game for the neutrals, never mind the purists. Tight, ugly forward battles that Blues’ coach Vern Cotter would have been rubbing his hands together with glee watching, as the New Zealand visitors physically bullied the Waratahs into submission for most of the game.
Late in the second half, there were signs of life, right winger Triston Reilly had a try rubbed out with a foot in touch after great work from Mark Nawaqanitawase who sparked a lot of the comeback from full-back. There were real signs of life in the backline, with Izzy Perese desperate for work. The Waratahs need to find a way to unlock this backline more.
Can they come back in Fiji? The Waratahs have undoubtedly improved on the field, but the cold hard results will say they’ve had four games and one win.
They travel to Fiji next week to take on one of the toughest tasks in club rugby anywhere, beating the Drua at home in front of a loud capacity crowd. Gordon said it would be a team effort to build the Tahs back up for another huge challenge next week.
“We’ve got some fixes that we need to work on, we can’t brush over us not being able to nail some of those really important parts of the game,” Gordon said.
“We’ve got a group that’s really tight, we fight hard. Like if we focus on improving each week, we’re going to be a tough team to beat. I said it earlier, we are such a different team to what we were last year, we were getting pumped at points, not even in games. I think we just need to be a little bit sharper.”