Paddy Ryan of the Waratahs scores a try against the Rebels at Allianz Stadium in Sydney. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
NSW Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has won his first game as head coach, but he refused to make any bold predictions about his team after it snapped a nine-game losing streak in Sydney last night against the Melbourne Rebels.
Cheika was not getting carried away with the Waratahs' 31-26 win against a Rebels team it holds a 5-0 win-loss record against.
"I'm not going to get conned into the potential stuff," Cheika said. "One step at a time. We still had a lot of scratchy moments and we are still very raw in what we are trying to do. Guys are getting their heads around it.
"I wouldn't be saying we delivered anything special. We played OK at a good standard for a certain period of time and that got us back into the game.
"I'm not being facetious. Every week we'll try and add a bit on, keep going forward, try not to take any steps backwards and prove ourselves to ourselves and to our fans."
The Waratahs' loss to Queensland in Brisbane last Saturday and the foul weather in Sydney last night kept the crowd at Allianz Stadium to just 11,206, but those who did turn up would have been pleased with the team's fightback.
For the second week in a row the Waratahs let their opposition skip away to an early lead and it looked like they were heading for a disastrous first loss to the Rebels.
They trailed 16-3 midway through the first half, but outscored the Rebels 28-10 for the rest of the game after responding to a demand from Cheika to lift the pace of their attack in the second half.
"We just said anticipate the game a little bit more," Cheika said. "We were playing at the same pace as the opposition. They just need to mirror you.
"You need to anticipate the game, get in front of the ball, so you are putting some deception out there for the opposition to deal with. That way we get ourselves on the front foot and once that happened I believed the team could go on and score a few tries."
Cheika was pleased the Waratahs' stayed faithful to their new attacking style even when they were behind.
"The pleasing thing was we kept doing it," Cheika said. "When we were losing people could have thought here we go again, but the lads stuck at it.
"It's still scratchy in some parts, but the general shape was there and we stuck at it."
The out-scored the Rebels three tries to two, while rival goal-kickers Brendan McKibbin (Waratahs) and James O'Connor (Rebels) both kicked six goals from seven attempts.
The Rebels led 16-6 at halftime after scoring the only try in the first 40 minutes. It was ominous for the Waratahs, who had only come back from 10 points or more at halftime once in the history of Super Rugby.
McKibbin opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the second minute, bringing his Super Rugby tally up to 100 points.
Cheika injected reserve back Ben Volavola into the action in the 43rd minute to spark the attack and it proved a masterful substitution.
The Waratahs lifted and tries to Michael Hooper and prop Paddy Ryan proved the difference.
Ryan sealed the game for the Waratahs with a try in the 74th minute after charging on to a pass from replacement halfback Matt Lucas 10m from the line and beating the tackles of forwards Luke Jones and Cadeyrn Neville.
Kurtley Beale scored an individual try on fulltime to secure a bonus point for the Rebels.
NSW WARATAHS 31 (B Foley, M Hooper, P Ryan tries; B McKibbin 2 cons, 4 pens) MELBOURNE REBELS 26 (K Beale, G Robinson tries; J O'Connor 2 cons, 4 pens) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: R Hoffman. Crowd: 11,206.
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