Waratahs shut Brumbies out

The Waratahs, after trailing early, produced a powerful second-half performance to beat the Brumbies 28-13 in their all-Australian Super Rugby derby in Sydney on Sunday.

In a physical game that at times teetered on the brink of boiling over, the Brumbies took a 13-6 lead inside the first half-hour.

However, the Waratahs bounced back to lead 20-13 at the break and shut the Brumbies out in the second half – the only points coming from a penalty and try by the Tahs.

The win saw the defending champion Waratahs move to within a point of the top six on the standings.

The Sydneysiders won the contact skirmishes and Wallaby fullback Israel Folau was outstanding in attack, scoring one try and having a hand in the other two scored by Bernard Foley and hooker Silatolu Latu.

The Waratahs fell behind 6-13 after 24 minutes, but led 20-13 at half-time following Foley and Folau's tries.

The Brumbies took a physical battering – with lock Rory Arnold leaving the field with a back complaint in the 60th minute, Wallaby centre Tevita Kuridrani coming off a few minutes later with his right arm in a sling and scrumhalf Nic White led off minutes from the end looking dazed.

Matt Toomua scored the Brumbies' only try in the third minute, but despite plenty of possession in the second half they were unable to get anywhere near the Waratahs.

Wing Henry Speight looked certain to score in the right corner as the Brumbies pressed the Waratahs' tryline, only to be knocked into the corner post by a desperate covering tackle from Wallaby flank Michael Hooper.

The Waratahs have now won nine of the last 10 meetings with the Brumbies in Sydney and have moved to within six points of the Brumbies in the Australia conference.

Folau was outstanding in attack and broke a six-match run without a try when he scored late in the first half.

The Waratahs killed off the Brumbies when Latu dashed over wide out for his first Super Rugby try, after Folau was involved twice in a passing move.

"It's always physical against the Brumbies and we felt we needed to be to win the match," Waratahs skipper Dave Dennis said.

"We scored some really good tries and that's how we like to play rugby and we've got to be better at that."

Brumbies counterpart Stephen Moore said the Waratahs played with a lot of momentum.

"I thought the Brumbies were excellent around the contact, we were a bit disappointing there and that was pretty telling in the game, and Izzy [Folau] carved us up a bit out wide."

Man of the match: Henry Speight had the occasional run, Nic White was feisty without being too effective, Scott Fardy was a workhorse, Scott Sio was powerful in the scrums and David Pocock made a satisfactory comeback. For the Waratahs Taqele Naiyaravoro caused all kinds of problems with ball in hand, Kurtley Beale had a few sublime moments, Bernard Foley directed his team well, Michael Hooper did his usual damage at the breakdown and on defence and Jacques Potgieter was wild beyond belief. However, our award goes to Waratahs fullback Israel Folau, who made good use of the limited opportunities and produced the moment of the match that resulted in the try – to hooker Tolu Latu – that put the match beyond the Brumbies.

The scorers:

For the Waratahs:

Tries: Foley, Folau, Latu

Cons: Foley 2

Pens: Foley 2, Beale

For the Brumbies:

Try: Toomua

Con: Lealiifano

Pens: Lealiifano 2

Yellow cards: Scott Fardy (Brumbies, 8 – professional foul, deliberately knocking the ball down), Tolu Latu (Waratahs, 79 – repeated infringements, collapsing the maul)

Teams:

Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Jacques Potgieter, 5 David Dennis (captain), 4 Will Skelton, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Benn Robinson.

Replacements: 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Sam Lousi, 20 Mitchell Chapman, 21 Stephen Hoiles, 22 Brendan McKibbin, 23 Peter Betham.

Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Scott Sio, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Ben Alexander.

Replacements: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 Jean-Pierre Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Jordan Smiler, 20 David Pocock, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 James Dargaville, 23 Lausii Taliauli.

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper, Stuart Berry (both South Africa)

TMO: George Ayoub