Waratahs leave Lions for dead
The Waratahs scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to claim a 41-13 bonus-point victory over the Lions in Sydney.
The home side took a slender 17-13 lead into the half-time break, but pulled away in the second 40 minutes to round off a comfortable five-try win.
The win sees them move up to second in the Australian conference and fourth overall, whilst the Lions remain winless on their Australasian tour with just next week's clash with the Force to go before they return home.
While it was an emphatic victory for Michael Cheika's Waratahs, it was a messy performance with a total of 27 turnovers, 14 of them handling errors.
Flyhalf Bernard Foley had an impressive match ahead of this week's Wallaby squad selection for the three home French Tests.
He scored a total of 21 points from a try, five conversions and two penalties out of his seven shots at goal.
The Lions had looked to be well in the match after a try by flank Jaco Kriel off a rolling maul in the 13th minute and steady goalkicking from flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff.
But the Waratahs stormed away from the Johannesburg-based outfit in the 10 minutes after the resumption with tries to Horne and Wallaby centre Adam Ashley-Cooper to kill off the game with a 31-13 lead.
Rob Horne scored his second try after the full-time siren after Wallaby fullback Israel Folau went close to scoring.
The result continued the Lions' losing run on their Australasian tour with three losses before their final tour game against the Force in Perth next Saturday.
The Lions have not won in 10 trips to Sydney and have only beaten the Waratahs twice in 17 encounters.
"We started the first half with a lot of intent but it probably got a bit loose in that last 30 minutes with a bit too many turnovers, but overall a pleasing result," said Waratahs skipper Dave Dennis.
"We knew the Lions were strong finishers, they've proven that over the last couple of weeks and it was crucial that we started the second half well and to put them out of the game was a good result."
Lions captain Warren Whiteley rued a disappointing result, with his team seemingly unable to play out a full 80 minutes.
"The previous week it was the second 40 minutes that we performed well and this week in the first half we were in it.
"But a great performance from the Waratahs, especially in the second half," he said.
The Waratahs have just a five-day turnaround before facing the Rebels in Melbourne.
Man of the match: Rob Horne scored two tries and Kurtley Beale was dangerous throughout, but the stand-out was playmaker Bernard Foley who controlled the game well and did not miss a kick at goal.
The scorers:
For the Waratahs:
Tries: Foley, Beale, Horne 2, Ashley-Cooper
Cons: Foley 5
Pens: Foley 2
For the Lions:
Try: Kriel
Con: Boshoff
Pens: Boshoff 2
Teams:
Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Matt Carraro, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis (captain), 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Paddy Ryan, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Stephen Hoiles, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Alofa Alofa, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro.
Lions: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 JW Jonker, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Rudi Matthee, 20 Warwick Tecklenburg, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Anthony Volminck.
Referee: Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Lees (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
