This has been a painful refrain in Australian Rugby circles for too long and the lawsuit has never been louder than today. New South Wales, the largest Rugby province in Australia with 150 years of history and a team full of wallabies, is in last place in the Super Rugby Pacific rankings. the grim 27-7 loss to the Western Force on Saturday dropped the Waratahs to 2-10 this season, dashing all hopes of the Finals.
Ten years ago, the Waratahs were at an all-time high when 61,823 Fans packed Accor Stadium to watch Michael Cheika’s side smack 12-time champions The Crusaders to win the Super Rugby title. It was the culmination of a season in which Allianz Stadion welcomed an average of 19,152 spectators. Last week, only 12,562 were on hand to see the Tahs smacken by ACT Brumbies for the 13th year in a row.
Since 2014, the sky sapphire jersey with the blood red Protea has been changing. The Waratahs have only reached the Super Rugby semi-finals twice in 10 seasons, a grim idea for a state association that serves more than 58 per cent of Australia’s players and spectators. With the success on the field, the audience, sponsorship, viewers and public interest have also decreased. Now even the Waratahs players seem to be losing faith.
The Tahs’ sole scorer in Saturday’s debacle, in which they conceded 27 unanswered points and took 18 turnovers in another error-laden performance, was Mark Nawaqanitawase, arguably Australia’s best player of the chaotic season. still, it was the winger’s first attempt in 13 weeks, and after.
Nawaqanitawase is not the only one to leave the sinking ship. Even Waratah captain Jake Gordon, who celebrated his 100th birthday this weekend. Match played in sky sapphire, wants to go out. Rugby Australia turned down Gordon’s offer to go overseas, so he’s stuck in no Man’s Land at the moment. Long-time stalwarts Ned Hanigan and Will Harrison were luckier and snuck under the wire to conclude contracts in France and Japan, respectively.
With each losing Season, the male ends with the coach. Darren Coleman is a popular figure among Fans and players, having won titles at Shute Shield and NRC level. After a winless season of 13 consecutive defeats in 2021 – a historic low in Australia since the starting of professionalism in 1996-the amiable ex-league has begun an admirable reconstruction that has propelled the Tahs to a respectable sixth place.
But was a disaster from day one. The Waratahs have lost four of their first five games by seven points or less. They defeated the crusaders in early April, but since then it no longer looked like a victory. The number of injuries has been terrible, with 16 front-line players health issue, 13 of whom have been cleaned up for the season, including the 10 signed front-line runners.
While the misfortunes and the results on the field have dominated the headlines, many Rugby Fans are pointing the finger at the Powerbrokers at the Waratahs headquarters in Daceyville. Chief Executive Paul Doorn has promised NSW to be the first member union to advocate for RA’s centralised “reset” in, leaving RA to run the Waratahs’ high performance (employees, players, coaches) and commercial operations (sponsors, marketing, ticketing, membership).