McKenzie satisfied with wet win
Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie credited an improvement in discipline for his side’s come-from-behind 24-17 win over the ACT Brumbies at a saturated Sydney Football Stadium.
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The hosts appeared comfortable at 10-0, before ushering in 17 unanswered points as the rain bucketed down. The Waratahs continued their trend of shoring up their defences, keeping the Brumbies scoreless in the second half, with two opportunist tries getting New South Wales over the line.
“I think both teams worked out that when you’re playing catch up, it was easier to kick the ball to the other end and let the other team try and play, and bash them,” McKenzie told Fox Sports.
“Everyone played off the errors.
“People think it’s easy to play in those conditions. It’s quite tough. The challenge for us is whether we could play with the discipline in those conditions.”
Defence was the key in the Tahs revival, with tries to Lote Tuqiri and Dean Mumm created by Brumbies errors. While the tries had luck attached, McKenzie was adamant they weren’t accidental.
“That’s part of the training. We actually practice that.”
The experimental new laws, designed for a greater spectacle, were no match for the Sydney weather, which turned the contest into an old-fashioned slog.
“We had the edge in lineout, and our maul was pretty good,” McKenzie said. “There probably wasn’t much difference beyond that.”
The Waratahs are becoming wet weather specialists in 2008. Last week’s win over Otago was played in similar conditions.
“We’re not disappointed to play in the wet, but we’d love to have a dry game just to see if we can play with a bit more flair,” McKenzie told Fox Sports.
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