Watch every second of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season live and on demand via Stan Sport.<\/a><\/p>\nSo what did we learn?<\/p>\n
1. McKellar masterclass<\/p>\n
NSW Waratahs coach Dan McKellar deserves credit for how he used his impact players, as they changed the game and ultimately secured the win.<\/p>\n
McKellar almost emptied his bench at the 49th minute with six changes, and it provided the burst of energy needed to run away with the game.<\/p>\n
Hooker Ioane Moananu got all the reward with his double and rightfully so after nailing all aspects of the game.<\/p>\n
But the likes of Isaac Kailea, Angus Blyth and Jack Debreczeni also deserve mention, adding some class and quality in the key moments.<\/p>\n
It allows the NSW side to go into the bye with maximum points, knowing the true test against the Hurricanes awaits in a fortnight. \u00a0<\/p>\n
2. Drua time to reflect<\/p>\n
The Fijian Drua need to rally fast if they are going to keep up with the rest of the competition.<\/p>\n
Again, the Drua were in a position to come home with the win, but they fell apart due to discipline.<\/p>\n
They showed glimpses of the damaging side they can be, but face a tough period against the Hurricanes and Brumbies at home.<\/p>\n
They need to win at least one of these games; otherwise it\u2019s a tough road home.<\/p>\n
3. Scrum the true weapon<\/p>\n
With all the Wallabies in the backline, it was the Waratahs pack and scrum that ultimately proved the difference.<\/p>\n
They bullied the Drua all night, winning penalties constantly across the 80 minutes.<\/p>\n
It settled the Waratahs when their attack was struggling and provided the key territory to launch.<\/p>\n
Whilst not the big names of last year, beware the Waratahs scrum.<\/p>\n
4. Out of this world wing battle<\/p>\n
Max Jorgensen keeps getting better.<\/p>\n
The winger\u2019s catalogue of tries keeps growing, adding to it with another special effort late in the half.<\/p>\n
Jorgensen had no right to score, beating Taniela Rakuro in an inch of space before tip-toeing his way on the sideline for the try.<\/p>\n
It was an entertaining battle with Rakuro, who had neatly gassed Jorgensen minutes earlier, opening the scoring for the Drua in the corner.<\/p>\n
Super Rugby Pacific is full of exciting wingers, with the Hurricanes showcasing their stars earlier on in their thumping of Moana Pasifika.<\/p>\n
5. Suva or Sydney<\/p>\n
The Fijian Drua were right at home as both teams struggled with the humidity in Sydney.<\/p>\n
It led to added emphasis on the kicking battle as neither team could handle the high ball.<\/p>\n
There was a passage of play late in the first half where both sides dropped key balls inside their half, gifting the chance for crucial points.<\/p>\n
The Waratahs especially struggled early after half-time, inviting pressure and field position for the Drua. However, they did enough to break them down and find a way home late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NSW Waratahs have once again ridden some Max Jorgensen magic and a hot second half to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,217781,32951,760,85,48013],"class_list":{"0":"post-492371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fijian-drua","11":"tag-nsw-waratahs","12":"tag-rugby","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-super-rugby-pacific"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}