Waratahs star Kurtley Beale celebrates a try with Adam Ashley-Cooper at Allianz Stadium. Picture: Brett Costello Source: Brett Costello / News Corp Australia
WARATAHS coach Michael Cheika moved to play down the prospect of his side storming into the top two after demolishing the Lions 41-13 on Sunday.
NSW took advantage of weekend slip-ups by the Brumbies and Western Force in South Africa, jumping from eighth to fourth on the Super Rugby ladder, just one point away from a place in the top two.
With a game in hand over Australian conference leaders the Brumbies, the Waratahs are in prime position to launch their bid for a guaranteed home semi-final.
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This is the best position the Waratahs have been in for years with five games remaining, but Cheika warned after his team's five tries to one rout: "Close is not good enough.
"You can only talk about it once you've done something.
Bernard Foley reaches out to score the opening try of the match for the Waratahs. Source: Getty Images
"I've had the experience before of being close and not delivering at the end, so we're still a long way to go, five games for us to navigate through.
"We've got a very big match on Friday (against Melbourne Rebels), a short turnaround against a very good opponent, they're going to attack us hard at the breakdown, in defence, and we're going to have to be ready for that."
It will be difficult for long-suffering Waratahs fans not to imagine that 2014 may finally be the year they break their title drought.
Even Lions coach Johan Ackerman spoke of the ominous feel about the Tahs, saying: "If they get the playoffs here (in Sydney), they'll be tough to beat".
But Cheika will be reinforcing his message to his players.
"What we need to do is think about the next game and not get carried away," Cheika said.
"Because as much as you think hey we could get in, you could think hey we might miss out as well.
"We need to keep a level head."
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Led by man-of-the-match Bernard Foley, NSW relentlessly pressed in attack and punched through a willing Lions defence to keep their undefeated home record this year intact.
NSW led 17-13 at the break but essentially won the game in the 10 minutes after the break.
Rob Horne's storming try four minutes into the second half, bumping off fullback Chrysander Botha and sprinting under the posts from 30 metres out, set the tone.
NSW soon made another long break upfield before Lions winger Deon van Rensburg was sin-binned for not releasing at the ensuing breakdown.
Minutes later Adam Ashley-Cooper delivered NSW their four-try bonus point when he scored from a Kurtley Beale chip.
Ashley-Cooper ran on to the chip and kicked ahead himself before regathering on the tryline.
At 31-13 the Tahs would not be heeded by the limited Lions attack.
Kurtley Beale makes a break for the Waratahs. Source: News Corp Australia
Foley, who kicked a perfect seven from seven goals, added a penalty with 18 minutes remaining.
Horne iced the cake by crossing for his second after the full-time siren, set up by Israel Folau.
But Cheika was fuming with his side's poor defence in the first half which allowed the Lions to score their only try from a rolling maul.
"I don't think anyone would have been happy with the try we gave away in the first half, that was soft, straight up," Cheika said.
"We just watched that, navigated it into the line and steered them in.
"Some teams are good mauling teams, which they are, and yes they'll score against you every now and again but you've got to make it as hard as possible.
"Because of the way we play, we need strong defence, because we're going to make errors and we need to shut the opposition down."
Waratahs coach Michael Cheika watched on from a private suite. Source: News Corp Australia
Finishing first or second guarantees a home semi-final, although the top two teams at present, the Sharks and Chiefs, have looked strong throughout the year.
NSW scored first half tries courtesy of midfield partners Foley and Beale.
Foley opened the scoring from close range in the eighth minute — somewhat sluggish compared to NSW's fast starts at home this year — stepping inside the Lions defence and stretching out to plant the ball.
It followed a sustained early period of attack at the Lions line.
The Lions hit back five minutes later with their trademark strength play.
From a lineout 10 metres out, the Lions expertly manoeuvred their pack through the Tahs defence, with blindside flanker Jaco Kriel powering over for the try.
The teams then exchanged penalty goals before Foley set up a brilliantly worked try for Beale.
From a scrum five metres out from the Lions line, Foley took a pass and deftly grubbered a kick into the in-goal for Beale to collect and score under the posts.
NSW WARATAHS 41 (Rob Horne 2, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Kurtley Beale, Bernard Foley tries Foley 5 cons 2 pens) bt LIONS 13 (Jaco Kriel try Marnitz Boshoff con 2 pens) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: Nick Briant. Crowd: 19,639.
Relive all the action from Allianz Stadium in our match blog below.
