Waratahs: 'No regrets'
Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:05
The Waratahs awoke Sunday with no regrets despite falling painfully short in a gripping Super 14 final against the Crusaders on Saturday.
The bleary-eyed Waratahs boarded a 7am flight out of Christchurch on Sunday - empty-handed after a tense and gallant 12-20 loss at AMI Stadium.
But outgoing coach Ewen McKenzie and senior players Phil Waugh and Rocky Elsom all agreed the Waratahs had given it their best shot in their second Super Rugby final appearance.
"What do you say? I don't have any regrets about the game, apart from not winning it," McKenzie said.
"I don't have any regrets about how we went about it. You can always argue a decision here or there or an execution or whatever, but generally speaking we played with the intent we wanted to play with.
"Two tries to one, I think we were heading in the right direction".
If McKenzie could turn back time, he would not have lost flyhalf Kurtley Beale in the 55th minute with an ankle injury when the Crusaders were clinging to a 14-12 lead and down a man with lock Brad Thorn in the sin bin for punching Waratahs lock Dan Vickerman.
"It's the first time he (Beale) hasn't been on the field for us all year," McKenzie said.
"Sam Norton-Knight did a pretty good job filling in there, but I guess it's a scenario we haven't spent a lot time covering.
"So there's a lot of comfort having (Beale) there because he's been there for so many minutes".
Waugh, though, refused to believe Beale's injury - which will almost certainly scratch the teenager from Australia's under-20 world championship campaign in Wales this month - had cost the Waratahs the chance to win their maiden Super Rugby crown.
"It was a big blow, but Sam has played a lot at 10 so I don't think we could use that as a reason why we lost the game or why we lost momentum at that particular time," the Waratahs captain said.
"I don't think that would be fair".
Waugh nominated the timing of the Crusaders' only try - to No.8 Mose Tuaili'i - three minutes before halftime as the turning point, claiming it gave the home side a massive psychological edge heading into the break.
The five-pointer allowed the Crusaders to trail just 11-12 at halftime, having been down 12-3 after 32 minutes thanks to two spectacular tries to Waratahs wing Lachie Turner.
The Crusaders then produced a mighty second half defensive effort, keeping the Waratahs scoreless, to surge to victory on the back of a 15-point haul from superstar flyhalf Dan Carter, who slotted four penalties and a vital drop goal.
"What really hurt us was just not scoring points," Elsom said.
"But, when you look at the performance, we had a crack and they were the better team by the end of it".
