Waratahs make promising start with bursts of brilliance against Fijian Drua
It’s another for Gamble to frequently force turnovers, make stunning tackles and still have the resources to make a dummy from a maul base, absorbing the defense and passing through the posts.
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Those two things alone gave the Waratahs a 14-10 lead against a Fijian Drua team that never stopped trying.
The problem is, cool pieces like these still don’t quite fit in with the rest of the puzzle!
From time to time we have had bursts of brilliance that, if they could have been linked together without interruption, would have lifted the cricket score.
Unfortunately, these bursts of brilliance were repeatedly dispersed or isolated from each other by knockouts, reverse passes, full and spilled high balls.
This frustration is compounded by the fact that despite having a player of Suaalii’s calibre, the ball almost never reaches him and the game plan never involves the center attacking and jumping high to score a short kick, because we know he can do it effortlessly!
Seriously coach Dan McKellar, in Suaalii, you’ve got a great weapon in world rugby, right there in the sky blue benches – can’t we even try to fire it in anger?
And yes, the Waratahs scored three more tries in the second half – two to substitute hooker Ioane Moananu and another from Jorgensen to give the flying winger four tries in his first two games of the season – but don’t be fooled. Everything could have been so much more!
McKellar later acknowledged this, saying: “I thought they left another thirty or forty points on the field, to be honest.”
I would put it at 50. They need composure. They need the ability to take breaks and consolidate, not force passes, not try to score on every play. Grind them. Get the field. And then unleash the maestros.
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Look, it’s a promising start for the Waratahs in 2026, with two bonus point wins putting them top of the table and we bid farewell to some rest next week. But no one looking at it with clear eyes would think that all the shiny pieces come together to create the sky-blue and sparkling trophy masterpiece we’re looking for.
Right now it’s a good drawing with Max Jorgensen’s signature in the bottom right corner, and that’s not enough.
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