The Highlanders were too good for the Waratahs in Sydney, winning 35-17 and progressing through to the final against the Hurricanes.
Photos courtesy of Keith McInnes photography.
The Match
The Waratahs had a very shaky start, with an errant Nick Phipps pass putting the home side under pressure from the first minute. A missed penalty kick to touch by Bernard Foley only compounded the problems, and the Highlanders registered first points soonafter through a Lima Sopoaga penalty goal. The Highlanders were looking good early and the Tahs looked rattled.
But the dominance of the visitors was not to last more than 10 minutes. The Waratahs found their rhythm and nice runs from Israel Folau and Taqele Naiyaravoro had the home side hot on attack. They didn’t waste time, and a deft cross-kick from Bernard Foley found an unmarked Rob Horne, who held off a Highlanders defender to score in the corner. Foley was unable to add the extras as the home side took the lead, 5-3.
Despite losing Sopoaga briefly to a head knock, the Highlanders attack was clicking nicely, and they were making metres in the open field through runs by Nasi Manu and Richard Buckman. They were to be rewarded for their play a few minutes later, with Aaron Smith reading a Waratahs scrum play perfectly, intercepting a Wycliff Palu pass to scamper 15m to score in the corner. The try went unconverted and the Waratahs leveled the scores a few minutes later through a Foley penalty.
The Highlanders had done their homework on the Waratahs, and were pegging them back in their own half with smart kicks. The Tahs poked their noses in front through another Foley penalty, but the Highlanders scored a try soonafter, after Richard Buckman wriggled through a couple of Waratah defenders, running 30m to score. It was a controversial decision from referee Craig Joubert, as Buckman looked to be brought to ground by the Waratahs tacklers. Sopoaga converted, giving the visitors a four point lead, 15-11. Once again the Tahs struck back quickly with another Foley penalty, narrowing the gap to one as the half wound down.
With the clock running down it was the Highlanders who would continue their dominance, pressuring the Waratah lineout at every throw. Sopoaga missed a penalty after the half time siren, with the South Islanders going in to the break with a one point lead, which you felt like could have been more.
The Waratahs started the second half worse than the first, conceding a penalty before making a series of sloppy handling errors to pin themselves deep in their own half. They managed to get out of jail, but things clearly weren’t working for last year’s champions. The Highlanders continued to give away penalties, which was stunting the Waratahs momentum but giving them a steady supply of points, with Foley kicking another in the 50th minute to edge the Tahs ahead by two. Once again the Tahs immediately switched off after scoring points, though, and some nice Highlander offloads saw them move into the Tahs 22, where Waisake Naholo scored soonafter after a lovely grubber down the sideline. Sopoaga failed to convert, but the visitors took the lead once again, 20-17.
Fortune was favouring the brave, and a nice bounce from the kick-off saw the Highlanders rolling again, and a deft Aaron Smith box kick winning the visitors a 5m scrum. From there came the pivotal moment. The Highlanders were attacking the Tahs line at close range, where Aaron Smith threw a peach of a pass to Patrick Osbourne, who broke a tackle to lunge for the line. He fell just short, but a Jacques Potgieter desperation tackle was deemed to be high, and preventing the probable scoring of a try. Craig Joubert ruled a penalty try and gave Potgieter a yellow card. This took the Highlanders lead to 10 and left the Tahs a man short.
While there was still time to run, you just felt the wind knocked completely from the Waratahs sails at that point, and the Highlanders knew it. They kept their tactical kicking game and used Aaron Smith to attack around the fringes. The Tahs defence was sticking solid but their attack had nothing, and despite having territory they never looked like scoring. A Sopoaga drop goal put the icing on the cake, extending the lead to 30-17, before a lovely cross kick to Patrick Osbourne hammered the final nail in the Waratah coffin. The Highlanders were comfortable winners, and head to Wellington next week full of confidence.
Random Observations
The coverage this coming week will no doubt focus on the penalty try decision by Craig Joubert. But really it didn’t affect the end result- the Highlanders were the better side for the whole 80 minutes. They did their homework on the Tahs and pressured them into bad decisions all over the field, and were deserving winners.
The Highlanders game plan was simple- use bombs to target the smaller Bernard Foley, and pressure the Tahs at the lineout. It was a game based on smart kicking and it worked a treat. As was discussed here earlier in the week the Highlanders are one of the highest kicking sides in the comp, so the Tahs would have seen it coming. But they were unable to deal with it.
Nick Phipps had a poor game, and so did Bernard Foley. But the biggest passenger on the night was Matt Carraro, who was playing with a broken thumb (suffered in the game against the Reds) and clearly struggling. This may earn me the wrath of the comments section, but the Tahs really missed Kurtley Beale and their attack looked significantly weaker without him.
As for the Penalty Try decision? I think it was the wrong one. Potgieter missed the ball by millimetres, and while a penalty was deserved I think the decision that was settled on by Joubert was overly harsh and left an indelible mark on the game. Osbourne was not guaranteed of scoring, and you simply can’t subtract Potgieter from the play completely – of course he may have scored if he wasn’t there. Once again Joubert bottled a big moment in a big game, which he has done multiple times now. Though it is worth noting that in the laws a YC has to be issued if the Penalty Try call is made, so once they settled on that Joubert’s hands were tied. I think this is a silly law but that’s an argument for another day.
The Waratahs lineout was abysmal and has haunted them for the back half of the season. There are plenty of reasons why, but it has been a key reason for their exit. I don’t think it will transfer to the Wallabies though, as a different caller and thrower will make a huge difference.
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The Game Changer
A pretty easy one this time- the call to award a penalty try to the Highlanders and a YC to Jacques Potgieter hammered a big nail in the Tahs coffin, and they never recovered.
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The G&GR MOTM
I thought Aaron Smith put on a clinic tonight, and was easily the best player on the park. Pinpoint kicks, lovely passing and a well-taken try, he really reminded me of 2011 model Will Genia. Honourable mentions to Nasi Manu, Richard Buckman and Rob Horne.
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Wallaby watch
A few very sloppy performances from Wallaby veterans tonight, with both Phipps and Foley having nights they would rather forget, and Michael Hooper also very quiet. One bloke did put in a standout effort though and that was Rob Horne, who capped off a great season with another big performance. I thought Wycliff Palu was also good.
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The Details
Crowd: 32,632
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”] Highlanders 35
Tries: A.Smith, Buckman, Naholo, Osbourne, Penalty Try
Conversions: Sopoaga 2
Penalties: Sopoaga 2 [/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”] Waratahs 17
Tries: Horne
Penalties: Foley 4
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Cards & citings
YC – Jacques Potgieter (high tackle)
