Waratahs edge out Chiefs
The Waratahs held on for a hard-fought 11-7 win against the Chiefs at the Sydney Football Ground.
Last Updated: 20/02/09 12:34pm
The Waratahs held on for a hard-fought 11-7 win against the Chiefs at the Sydney Football Ground, in what was a very forgetful Super 14 encounter.
Many expected this clash to be a free flowing, high tempo affair between the two trans-Tasman rivals. Instead, the locals were forced to watch a stop-start error-filled display that failed to entertain.
The Waratahs put in a disjointed performance to beat an understrength Chiefs outfit missing key players in the back-line and up front.
The hosts failed to take advantage and can consider themselves lucky to escape the encounter with a victory - their eighth straight win at home.
In a messy encounter dominated by handling errors and turnovers, the Waratahs made it two wins from two but weren't nearly as impressive as their bonus point win over the Hurricanes.
Dominated
Both side's exchanges tries, with a penalty and drop-goal from Waratahs' pivot Kurtley Beale the difference as the Chiefs defended stoutly but had to live off scraps of possession.
The hosts completely dominated the opening exchanges spending the first eight minutes of the match in Chiefs territory. Despite their dominance the Waratahs had nothing to show for their efforts and were soon forced to defend.
They proved up to the task and their dominance was soon rewarded when Beale found Timana Tahu with a perfectly weighted cross kick for a 5-0 lead in the 16th minute.
Momentum stayed with the hosts but Beale failed to add to the lead with a long-range penalty attempt.
It was Chiefs' turn to attack from the re-start and they soon had the home side stretched when Stephen Donald put a kick in behind the defence for Sitiveni Sivivatu who appeared to score.
But the replay showed the All Blacks flyer failed to ground the ball under heavy pressure from Luke Burgess.
Desperate
From the ensuing five-metre scrum, the Waratahs tried to clear through Wycliff Palu off the back of the scrum but the big man turned over possession and the Chiefs took full advantage.
Brendon Leonard shrugged off Burgess' tackle and almost crossed before prop Sona Taumalolo barged over from the ensuing phase.
Donald's conversion made it 7-5 in favour of the visitors against the run of play.
The Waratahs enjoyed the first opportunity at the resumption when prop Benn Robinson effected a charge down and set sail down field before linking with Rob Horne who was bundled into touch by some desperate defence.
Sam Norton-Knight came close for the Waratahs on 50 minutes when he kicked a loose ball and led the chase only to watch the ball dribble into touch.
The Waratahs were fortunate to earn a penalty for an alleged high shot on Horne in the 55th minute and Beale made no mistake from 30 metres out to reclaim the lead, 8-7.
Beale put his men further in front four minutes later when he slotted over a drop goal to claim a match-winning 11-7 lead.
