VIDEO: 'Tahs need to kick losing habit

After two years and 41 matches, New Zealand Super Rugby teams' 40-match winning streak over their trans-Tasman rivals were finally broken courtesy of Waratahs' 41-12 win over the Highlanders at Allianz Park in Sydney.

The Waratahs outscored the Highlanders by six tries to two. 

The encounter did swing in the hosts' favour when Highlanders wing Tevita Nabura was red carded after his boot made contact with Cam Clark's face just short of the 20th minute.

The 29-point win is the team’s highest ever recorded score against the Dunedin outfit.

The Waratahs started the game with full determination, especially after feeling hard done by their controversial 29-31 defeat to the Crusaders at Christchurch just a week ago.

"It's tough to talk about the Kiwi hoodoo," Waratahs hooker Damian Fitzpatrick told reporters after the match.

"Last week we played well didn't get the result [against the Crusdaers]. This week, we prepared well and managed to get the result,"

"It feels good to get back in the winners' circle and hopefully players can build from that because you'll work out that winning is a habit," he added.

The Waratahs have another big challenge this coming weekend as they travel to New Zealand to take on the Chiefs in Round 15.

The Waratahs are currently sitting on top of the Australian conference while the Chiefs are fourth on the New Zealand conference and sixth on the overall log.

However, with a win in the bag, Fitzpatrick is confident his side have the prowess to claim a Kiwi scalp in New Zealand.

"Hopefully next we can take this in and then obviously come back and we start playing our final conference games against the Reds and the rest of the conference after the June break,"

"I think we'll take confidence from the win and know that we can perform not just here but also over there and last week showed that,"

@rugby365com