Red-hot Waratahs go top

Editor

The Waratahs thrashed the Reds 32-5 in Sydney on Saturday to complete a perfect ten-point haul from their opening two fixtures.

The Waratahs thrashed the Reds 32-5 in Sydney on Saturday to complete a perfect ten-point haul from their opening two Super Rugby fixtures.

Having run six tries past the Force last week, the Waratahs secured another bonus-point by outscoring their Australian rivals four tries to one with full-back Israel Folau bagging a brace to take his personal tally to five tries already this season.

The result means the Sydneysiders provisionally move to the summit of the overall standings (with the Bulls and Lions still to play later on Saturday) but they are sure finish the weekend at the top of the Australian conference

The Waratahs dominated the first half to lead 19-5 at the interval.

The home side raced to a 19-0 lead inside the first 33 minutes as Folau touched down twice before Peter Betham added his name to the scorecard.

Lachie Turner profited from a yellow card to Folau on the stroke of half time to pull a try back for the Reds against his former team-mates, but the Reds would not trouble they scorers again as they slumped to their biggest-ever defeat in New South Wales.

The Waratahs got off to the perfect start as Folau latched onto Kurtley Beale's offload to cross after just two minutes.

Bernard Foley missed the conversion but he would be at the origin of his team's second try on the 25-minute mark as his half-break set up the 'Tahs backs to put Folau into space and the full-back's pace did the rest.

The one-way traffic continued as Foley popped an inside pass to Betham, who cruised over for a soft try.

The Reds finally got on the scoreboard with the final play of the half after Folau saw yellow for intentionally knocking the ball into touch. The numerical advantage gave Turner acres of space and he scored untouched out wide.

The Waratahs secured the four-try bonus point early in the second half as Beale took a quick tap penalty and barged over from short range. Foley's third conversion took the score out to 26-5.

With the bonus point secured, the home side could afford to take two easy three pointers via Foley's boot in the final quarter to rub salt in the Reds' wounds.

The scorers:

For Waratahs:
Tries: Folau 2, Betham, Beale
Cons: Foley 3
Pens: Foley 2
Yellow card: Folau

For Reds:
Try: Turner

Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Alofa Alofa, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Peter Betham, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Stephen Hoiles, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Jacques Potgieter, 3 Paddy Ryan, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Tola Latu, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Pat McCutcheon, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Rob Horne, 23 Matt Carraro.

Reds: 15 Aidan Toua, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Anthony Fainga'a, 11 Dom Shipperley, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Eddie Quirk, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Ben Daley, 18 Jono Owen, 19 Ed O'Donoghue, 20 Beau Robinson, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Ben Lucas, 23 Chris Feauai-Sautia.

Venue: ANZ Stadium in Sydney
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: James Leckie (Australia), Will Houston (Australia)