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Dan McKellar accuses Waratahs of getting 'bored' in flop loss
By AAP
Coach Dan McKellar is lamenting his “bored” charges after the NSW Waratahs produced another embarrassing defensive display to suffer a 45-28 Super Rugby Pacific capitulation to Moana Pasifika in Auckland.
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An attacking masterclass from Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii had the Waratahs on track for an elusive first away win of the season before the hosts piled on 38 second-half points to run away with victory on Saturday.
McKellar was unable to hide his frustrations after the Tahs defied his orders to man up in defence after a similar surrender last week in a 57-12 loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington.
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“A very poor second half, it’s as simple as that,” McKellar said.
“I thought at the halftime break we’d executed our plan nicely and it builds a lead.
“The second half, we just we fell away.”
After taking a 21-7 lead to the interval, then again stretching their advantage to 14 points with a Teddy Wilson try, the Waratahs collapsed at North Harbour Stadium.
The Pasifika ran in five tries in a devastating 15-minute spell, with prop Feleti Sae-Ta’ufo’ou completing his hat-trick before flyhalf Patrick Pellegrini, fullback William Havili and replacement Fine Inisi added to the Waratahs’ humiliation.
With powerhouse prop Taniela Tupou also failing to deliver at set piece after being dropped to the bench and thrust into the fray in the second half, McKellar conceded the Waratahs had plenty of “work-ons” ahead of their next game.
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“Just executing what was working (in the first half) and not getting bored with it,” the coach said of his team’s plan for a turnaround after three losses on the road to go with an unbeaten four-match start in Sydney.
“That’s the reality. We’ve got a couple of tidy-ups in and around line out there.
“We had a nice centre-field scrum that we got penalised for collapsing, so there’s the set piece to start with.
“Then just not going away from what we’re good at. That’s the challenge for us at the moment.
“We’re producing it for periods, but we’ve got to produce it for 80 minutes.”
The defensive abomination overshadowed another eye-catching performance from Suaalii, who looked to have inspired the Waratahs with three telling touches.
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All three ended in tries, with winger Triston Reilly bagging a double and halfback Wilson also benefiting from the cross-code superstar’s silky skills.
Returning to fullback after making his comeback from a foot injury last week in the centres, Suaalii’s decisive contributions earned the Waratahs their handy halftime lead.
When he burst through to set up Wilson in the 57th minute to go up 28-14, the Waratahs appeared odds-on to claim their first win away from Sydney in 2025.
But then they crumbled.
McKellar’s charges have now conceded 105 points in their past two starts.
Moana Pasifika, on the other hand, are celebrating back-to-back Super Rugby Pacific wins for the first time after also putting 45 points on the Crusaders in Christchurch last week.
Coach Tana Umaga said he couldn’t be prouder.
“It’s just about the actions and, as we saw, those actions were all over the show today,” he said.
“We were having a bit of cramp and injuries and people lying on the ground but everyone just kept getting back up.
“There were a lot of deep breaths, but they could see what was happening and just kept getting back up for each other – and that’s all you can ask for.”
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Suaalii was great on attack but his defence was pretty bad