The Waratahs refused to say they had waved the white flag throughout the week.
Publicly they hadn’t, the reality is they had. You might have been confused given their alternate white jerseys.
Very few sides head across the ditch to beat a New Zealand side at Eden Park. Not least a Blues side with 10 All Blacks and Beauden Barrett in it.
Injuries, suspension and three rested Wallabies, including the nation’s most-capped captain Michael Hooper, meant the Waratahs never stood a chance.
Beauden Barrett celebrates during the Blues’ big win over the Waratahs at Eden Park. Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images
Waratahs management hoped players fighting for a contract and a future in professional rugby would be enough to help keep them in the fight. That was optimistic.
The Waratahs knew their hopes of going across the ditch to win were slim to none and therefore turned their attention to finishing the season with a wet sail. It was a smart decision but in essence the white flag was waved before they left Sydney.
While the Blues conceded three tries, they never really looked troubled.
Zarn Sullivan scored a double to help lead the Blues to a massive win over the Waratahs at Eden Park on April 22, 2023. Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images
Contrastingly, the Waratahs looked like a team that had been thrown together and played like one too.
Unable to control the tempo of the match and play in the opposition’s half, All Blacks stars Rieko Ioane and Caleb Clark found and exploited soft shoulders while Barrett did his usual thing.
“They were pretty clinical tonight,” Waratahs captain Jake Gordon said.
“We just struggled to gain possession and play at the right end of the field. We spoke clearly about not giving them turnover and transition attack and we gave them a heap of that, and they were pretty clinical.”
Despite missing a dozen players, Gordon wasn’t looking to make any excuses.
“It’s all good,” he said.
“We had a really good training week. We prepared well, the coaches did a great job of putting us in a position to perform tonight.
“We had a lot of quality players in that team, it was just disappointing that we didn’t perform tonight.”
Despite securing an important bonus point win, Patrick Tuipulotu immediately played down the comprehensive victory.
“There’s some bits we can be happy with but I don’t think we’ll be happy with the 21 points they scored in the game,” he said.
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