{"id":489827,"date":"2026-03-22T20:40:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T20:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/489827\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T20:40:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T20:40:25","slug":"blues-set-record-with-remarkable-comeback-win-over-waratahs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/489827\/","title":{"rendered":"Blues set record with remarkable comeback win over Waratahs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The NSW Waratahs<\/a> have been consigned to an unwanted place in the history books with a despairing 35-20 Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> loss to the Blues.<\/p>\n

Dan McKellar was unable to hide his frustrations in the NSW coaches\u2019 box as his Waratahs squandered endless first-half try-scoring chances and then blew a 12-point lead in front of equally rueful home fans on Saturday night in Sydney.<\/p>\n

A third straight defeat not only sent the Waratahs tumbling out of the top six for the first time this season, but also earned the Blues<\/a> a record 12th successive win over a Super Rugby rival for the first time in 30 years.<\/p>\n

The Waratahs weren\u2019t helped by losing their outside centre with injury just before kick-off for the second time in three matches.<\/p>\n

Triston Reilly\u2019s scratching \u2013 three weeks after Wallabies superstar Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii<\/a> was struck down with a hamstring tear \u2013 forced Lawson Creighton<\/a> to partner Joey Walton<\/a> in the midfield at Allianz Stadium.<\/p>\n

The reshuffle initially worked a treat, with Jack Debreczeni<\/a> starting at flyhalf helping the Tahs camp themselves in opposition territory for most of the first half \u2013 apart from a second-minute try to Blues No.9 Finlay Christie.<\/p>\n

The Blues did brilliantly to survive being a man down for 10 minutes after No.8 Malachi Wrampling-Alec<\/a> was yellow-carded for a shoulder to the head of Waratahs hooker Ethan Dobbin.<\/p>\n

Exciting new fullback Sid Harvey<\/a> seemed certain to score after accepting a flick pass from Max Jorgensen<\/a> before the Blues scrambled again to deny the Tahs, \u00a0after a Dobbin midfield bust and his surprise chip kick eluded Pete Samu.<\/p>\n

After Jake Gordon<\/a> was miraculously held up over the line, the Waratahs eventually opted for three points through Harvey to finally get on the board.<\/p>\n

\"Team Match Summary \"Team <\/p>\n

But the home team continued to pepper the Blues\u2019 line, with winger Harry Potter<\/a> unable to control a Harvey pass just as he looked certain to score.<\/p>\n

Debreczeni then bombed a golden opportunity after reclaiming his own chip kick, only to throw the final pass astray.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the Tahs at last scored a try through Debreczeni in the 32nd minute after the TMO let slide what appeared to be a certain knock-on in the lead-up from lock Miles Amatosero.<\/p>\n

The TMO also ruled in NSW\u2019s favour when deciding prop Dan Botha had forced the ball after the halftime siren to give the Tahs a 17-8 lead at the break.<\/p>\n

Another Debreczeni penalty nudged the hosts 12 points clear early in the second half before the second-placed Blues piled on 27 unanswered points to secure an improbable bonus-point victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NSW Waratahs have been consigned to an unwanted place in the history books with a despairing 35-20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-489827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}