Waratahs claim 1st Super title
Print Edition
BERNARD Foley kicked a penalty a minute from time to give the New South Wales Waratahs their maiden Super Rugby title with a 33-32 victory over the seven-time champions Canterbury Crusaders in a thrilling final in Sydney yesterday.
The Waratahs’ dreams of a first title in their third final were hanging by a thread when the Wallabies flyhalf calmly slotted his seventh penalty of the night from 44 meters to send the record crowd of 61,823 at the Olympic Stadium into raptures.
“The kick was right on my borderline, there wasn’t much left in it and I had to give it everything, the rugby gods were smiling and it just snuck over,” Foley said. “We have been working on getting more distance in my kicking and normally Kurtley Beale takes the longer kicks but I was hitting them well and thought I just had to give it everything.”
The Waratahs also had tries either side of half-time from center Adam Ashley-Cooper but they had to dig deep in the second half when the Crusaders erased an early deficit and took a slender lead.
It was a first win in 12 matches over a decade against the New Zealanders, who had won the first two finals between the teams in 2005 and 2008.
It was a sensational finish to the season for the Waratahs, winning their last nine matches and going through the season unbeaten at home.
The Crusaders had tries from flanker Matt Todd and winger Nemani Nadolo — his 12th of the season — along with 20 points from the boot of flyhalf Colin Slade and two from Dan Carter.
The crowd was a record for a Super Rugby match, beating the 55,000 that watched the Bulls beat the Waikato Chiefs in the 2009 final in Pretoria.
The Waratahs began positively and led 14-0 in the opening 15 minutes only for the Crusaders to regroup and hit back to trail 13-20 at halftime.
The Crusaders looked to have the winning momentum and led 26-23 heading into the final quarter of the match.
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