The NSW Waratahs extended their phenomenal Super W winning streak to 19 games by beating the Brumbies 31-17 in the Canberra rain on Saturday.
The round one win underlined NSW’s favouritism to defend their crown but also illustrated the steady progress from a Brumbies side now directed by former Waratahs star Ash Hewson.
The Brumbies led 10-0 early before NSW came home with a wet sail.
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“Class prevailed,” former NSW star Morgan Turinui said on Nine and Stan Sport.
“They were able to play a balanced game in the wet. Put the foot down and blew the Brumbies away late.”
Mahalia Murphy scored a second half hat trick for NSW, whose other try-scorers were Emily Chancellor and Piper Duck.
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“The big guns stood up,” Tim Horan said in commentary.
“Grace Hamilton, (Iliseva) Batibasaga, (Katrina) Barker, (Atasi) Lafai, Piper Duck with a try. The coach (Campbell Aitken) gave them a spray at halftime and Barker was really good in the second half. But they’ll learn so much from this, the Brumbies.”
Captain Barker confirmed her coach “gave it to us at halftime” but Atiken was fairly content at fulltime.
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“I was pretty pleased with the composure, we certainly spoke about being more aggressive,” Aitken said.
“That expectation and desire should be a given when you wear the Waratahs jersey and I felt that was missing in the first half.
“We really emphasised that at halftime. We picked up and sort of went away.”
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Pauline Piliae was excellent for NSW from five-eighth while Aitken praised a “special” performance from Murphy.
“She’s got that X-factor and she’s one of the players that we do rely on to give us that extra spark,” Aitken said.
Elsewhere, the Queensland Reds outclassed the Western Force 43-7 while the Fijiana Drua crushed the Melbourne Rebels 66-5 in an incredible Super W debut.
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