The New South Wales Waratahs have retained the Santos Cup defeating the Queensland Reds 33-32 in the final game of the Santos Festival of Rugby in Narrabri.
In a back-and-forth affair at Dangar Park, a try to Nemani Nadolo in the final minutes secured a narrow one-point victory for the New South Welshman.
Floyd Aubrey, Harry Wilson, Taj Annan and Lawson Creighton crossed for the Reds in what was their final pre-season fixture before the Super Rugby opener in Townsville on 25 February.
The Waratahs opened the scoring in the eighth-minute, the hosts camping in the Reds’ half before Mahe Vailanu crashed over. Tane Edmed converted.
Queensland hit back quickly, a fortunate bounce from a Tate McDermott cross-field kick finding Aubrey, who stepped his way around the defence to score close to the righthand corner. Tom Lynagh missed the tough conversion attempt, as Queensland trailled 7-5 after 12-minutes.
Wilson had Queensland’s second, finishing off a 60-metre team try. Fraser McReight broke the line courtesy of an Isaac Henry offload, finding Seru Uru who went on to link with a steaming Wilson. Lynagh slotted the conversion from in front to give the Reds their first lead of the match at 12-7 in the 17th minute.
A Queensland error gifted the Waratahs their second, Izaia Perese the beneficiary in the 20th minute, before Lynagh kicked Queensland into a 15-14 lead with a penalty goal in the 25th minute.
Lynagh’s second three-pointer gave Queensland a four-point lead, before a rolling maul try to Vailanu on the stoke of half-time gave the hosts a 21-18 lead at the break.
The Waratahs had the first points of the second-half early through Max Jorgensen, a fourth Edmed conversion extending his side’s lead to 28-18.
A yellow-card to Langi Gleeson reduced the Waratahs to 14-men with 26-minutes to play, with Annan eventually taking full advantage of the overlap. Annan sliced through to score with a show-and-go after a build-up of phases on the Waratahs line. Lawson Creighton converted to bring the Reds within three-points at 28-25 with 18-minutes to play.
Stout goal line defence kept the Tahs from extending their lead, before Queensland marched downfield to score their fourth try of the night. It was Creighton who pushed his way over the line, the flyhalf then converted his own try to put Queensland back in the lead at 32-28 with 10-minutes remaining.
Nadolo regained the Waratahs lead with a barnstorming run out wide to score and send the hosts back into a one-point lead with four-minutes to play despite video replays showing he had knocked the ball on, but with no TMO in Narrabri the try stood, as the Waratahs held on to claim their third straight Santos Cup with a narrow 33-32 win.
Queensland kick-off their season at Queensland Country Bank Stadium against the Hurricanes on Saturday 25 February. Secure your membership via https://bit.ly/3HPDkxr
