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Shocking Waratahs' capitulation may be side's most abysmal yet

The Waratahs are preparing for a must-win game against the Rebels. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The NSW Waratahs were ahead at halftime against the Chiefs on Friday, and just 25 minutes after the break found themselves 32 points behind.

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They never recovered and lost the Super Rugby fixture 51-14 in Wollongong.

The Waratahs were abysmal in the second half, conceding six tries and 38 unanswered points as the Chiefs won for the first time in NSW since 2007.

It was the most points the Chiefs have scored away against NSW, the second-most ever in Australia and their biggest win anywhere against the Waratahs.

The bonus-point victory saw the Chiefs jump from seventh to first on the competition ladder.

NSW led 14-13 at halftime before All Blacks and Chiefs halfback Brad Weber stunned the Waratahs with two tries in two minutes after the break.

The onslaught continued through Sean Wainui, Lachlan Boshier, Solomon Alaimalo and Anton Lienert-Brown who also scored second-half tries.

The Chiefs ran with the wind and had all the momentum early in the opening spell on the back of a 6-1 penalty count as Aaron Cruden slotted two penalties and Shaun Stevenson scored for a 13-0 lead.

But the Waratahs rallied and stormed back into the contest as Karmichael Hunt set up fill-in skipper Kurtley Beale to score on 25 minutes.

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Hunt also set up their second try after he took a crash ball and managed to transfer possession to Jack Dempsey who crossed out wide.

Consecutive conversions from rookie No. 10 Will Harrison gave the Waratahs an unlikely lead in the 33rd minute.

But it was all downhill from there as the relentless Chiefs kept NSW scoreless in the second half while piling on 38 straight points to secure an emphatic victory.

– Australian Associated Press

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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