Sydney - The New South Wales Waratahs got their stuttering Super Rugby title defence back on track with a 33-18 victory over South Africa's Sharks at Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday.
Coming off last week's upset at the hands of Western Force, the Waratahs made the best possible start when centre Adam Ashley-Cooper scored their first try in the opening minute.
As so often this season, however, the Super Rugby champions turned over too much possession to build any sustained momentum and were ultimately flattered by the scoreline.
Fijian winger Taqele Naiyaravoro crossed after the break and flyhalf Bernard Foley, who kicked 18 points from the tee, pounced on a Sharks error to seal the victory with a third try two minutes from time.
The win puts the Waratahs three points clear at the top of the Australian conference, where they will stay unless the ACT Brumbies beat the Lions in Johannesburg later on Saturday.
The Sharks, struggling this season after reaching the semi-finals last year, were unfortunate to come away with only two second-half tries from Odwa Ndungane and Frans Steyn.
It looked like it would be a long night for the Durban-based outfit when flanker Michael Hooper burst through the defensive line and got the ball away for Ashley-Cooper to finish with only seconds on the clock.
The Sharks were in mood to lay down, however, and two penalties from the boot of Steyn ensured they were only 13-6 down at the end of a hard-fought first half.
The home side came out firing after the break but the Sharks sucked up the pressure and then scored their first try with some quick thinking, flyhalf Lionel Cronje taking a quick penalty and finding Ndungane haring down the right wing with a crosskick.
Naiyaravoro was adjudged to have got the ball down after a sweeping Waratahs move in the 52nd minute but five minutes later Steyn reduced the deficit to two points.
Foley's unerring boot opened up the gap again, though, and when Cronje spilled a pass in his own half late on, the Wallabies flyhalf hacked the ball through to put a gloss on the victory.
Reuters