Waratahs

Foketi finding his feet in second Super Rugby chance

The 23-year-old played Super Rugby for the Rebels in 2014, signed from Shute Shield club Manly after playing Australian Schoolboys and U20s, and came in with plenty of high hopes.

Though he made his Super Rugby debut in that season, he played just 12 minutes all year, before being released.

“Going to Melbourne when I was 18, I didn’t know what to do - it was my first time living out of home and I was like a little kid in a candy store, being in a Super Rugby team that early,” he said.

Waratahs pack not worried about perception

NSW farewelled experienced duo Dean Mumm and Will Skelton at the end of last season, and they’ll be missing veteran tighthead Sekope Kepu in the first two rounds of 2018, taking a big chunk of recognition out of their team.

That’s not to say they are all rookies - Wallabies lock Rob Simmons joined the club this season and their skipper Michael Hooper has nearly 100 Super Rugby caps as well - but this isn’t the Waratahs makeup of old.

Waratahs pipped by Highlanders at tens

It might have only been the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens but the heartbreak was real as a last-gasp try from Highlanders winger Tevita Nabura sealed a 12-10 victory at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

The 'Tahs' looked on course to notch the first win by an Australian side over a Kiwi franchise in any format since the opening match of last year's inaugural tens event. An embarrassing 21-0 whitewash in Super Rugby followed.

Robertson re-signs with ARU

Robertson's renewal is for a further three years, tying him down to the ARU and Super Rugby's the Waratahs until 2020.

The 23-year-old, who made his debut for the Wallabies against South Africa last year and has since amassed 15 Tests, said: "New South Wales is home for me. I'm very passionate about the Waratahs and Wallaby jersey and it means so much to me to get the chance to pull them both on.

"There's plenty still to do this season with the Wallabies, but I'm also really excited about next year with the Waratahs.

Second-half spiral costs Waratahs in Dunedin

That’s how long it’s been since an Australian team won in New Zealand, as the Waratahs became the latest team felled across the Tasman, going down 44-28 to the Highlanders. 

A year to the day since the Waratahs beat the Chiefs, the last Australian victory over a Kiwi team anywhere in the world, they looked to have remedied their sluggish starts with a half-time lead, but were unravelled in the second half by recklessness as much as anything else.

Tahs keep playoff hopes alive

Waratahs fullback Israel Folau was back to his dominant best, scoring a try in each half, with Nick Phipps, Dean Mumm, Ned Hanigan, Michael Hooper, Damien Fitzpatrick and Bryce Hegarty also crossing for the home side.

Replacement back Jonah Placid scored a brace of tries in the second half for the Rebels, who battled hard but were over-run in the final quarter and slumped to a ninth loss of the season.

Cheika backs Waratahs-Cronk move

Cronk will leave Melbourne at the end of the season in order to move to Sydney for family reasons, with a number of NRL sides believed to be keen to sign the 33-year-old.

However, a surprising turn of events has seen Super Rugby side Waratahs credited with an interest in the two-time Dally M Player of the Year.

Former Waratahs player and coach Cheika believes Cronk has the ability to make the switch, but will not try to facilitate a move in order to have him available for the Wallabies.

Waratahs humiliated by Kings

Plumbing new depths, the Waratahs lamely surrendered a 17-0 lead with a listless display in front of exasperated fans on Friday night.

The Kings are the competition's dead men walking, consigned to the scrapheap in 2018 as part of SANZAAR's Super Rugby restructuring after managing just three wins in the past season and a half.

But the lowly South Africans may well have sounded the death knell on the Waratahs' finals hopes after reversing a record 72-10 loss to NSW in the two sides' only previous meeting, in Port Elizabeth four years ago.

Waratahs to put Crusaders to the sword

The Waratah host the unbeaten competition leaders in Sydney on Sunday with their finals hopes in the balance after a ho-hum two-from-five start.

But skipper Michael Hooper hopes last week's thrilling comeback win over the Melbourne Rebels, after trailing 25-6 at halftime, will prove the spark that revived the Tahs' 2017 fortunes.

"The comeback gave it that extra little bit for the viewers," the champion flanker said at Saturday's captain's run at Allianz Stadium.

"That's how we want to play. Look at our stats, it's sharing the workload. That's Waratahs footy.

Crusaders back their discipline

Memories of the way the Waratahs used bruisers like Will Skelton and Tolu Latu to poke, niggle and provoke - illegally and otherwise - the Crusaders when they last visited Sydney haven't been forgotten.

Neither they should be. Watching the Waratahs forwards steam into the Crusaders in 2015, and you have to admit the city boys really did give the men from New Zealand the big V, made for painful viewing.