Waratahs stay top in Australian division after win over Waikato Chiefs
New South Wales take control as Brumbies, Auckland battle to keep their hopes alive
A late surge by the NSW Waratahs, sparked by a captain's try from Dave Dennis, carried them to a 33-17 victory over the defending champions Waikato Chiefs in their Super Rugby clash on Saturday.
The result kept the Waratahs at the top of the Australian conference, while the Chiefs' hopes of defending their crown a third time were in tatters as they suffered their fifth loss and slipped well outside the crucial top six.
After trailing for much of the game, the Chiefs seized a 17-16 lead with two snappy tries midway through the second half before the Waratahs re-asserted control to record their first win in New Zealand for four years.
They’re a consistent team, we knew they’d keep fighting for the full 80 minutes and I thought we stuck to our game well
"It's been a couple of years since we had a win over here but we were really keen to put in a strong performance," Waratahs captain Dave Dennis said.
"They're a consistent team, we knew they'd keep fighting for the full 80 minutes and I thought we just stuck to our game well. Our discipline was probably a bit off there but we kept playing, attacking with ball in hand and we got some good tries."
After their hiding at the hands of the Wellington Hurricanes a week ago, the Chiefs rejigged their backline with the return of Aaron Cruden in the driving seat and Andrew Horrell and Tim Nanai-Williams stationed outside.
But the defensive lapses from last week remained as Adam Ashley-Cooper ripped apart the midfield. A rueful Chiefs coach Dave Rennie admitted at half-time that his side were "lucky" to trail by only 10 points.
In Canberra, the ACT Brumbies put their campaign back on track after a comprehensive 37-10 bonus-point victory over the Melbourne Rebels. The win means they move back into top six play-off territory.