Super 14: Waratahs open season with 20-3 win over Hurricanes
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SYDNEY, Australia: Fullback Lachlan Turner scored a pair of tries Saturday as the New South Wales Waratahs opened their Super 14 rugby season with a 20-3 win over the Wellington Hurricanes.
Former Australian rugby league test player Timana Tahu, making his Super 14 debut, was heavily involved in the first half, helping the Waratahs — who finished second-last in 2007 — to a 10-3 lead.
The ball swept across the Waratahs' backline in the 18th minute and Tahu, playing on the left wing, caught and scooped in one motion to send Turner sprinting to the left corner. Kurtley Beale's sideline conversion made it 7-0.
Former Newcastle and Parramatta star Tahu was picked up by South African referee Craig Joubert in the 28th minute when he aggressively grabbed Hurricanes fullback Cory Jane around the shoulders and sent him crashing over the sideline headfirst.
Hurricanes five-eighth Jimmy Gopperth narrowed the margin to 7-3 with a 23rd-minute penalty goal, while Beale responded with a Waratahs' penalty in the 36th.
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A try by Rocky Elsom and Turner's second, in the 74th minute and again set up by Tahu, completed the scoring in the second half.
"Just to get Lachie (Turner) over the line, it was a bit more of a relief," Tahu said. "I'm hoping to just keep on learning this year and hopefully the next couple of years I can be a big asset to the team."
Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie said Tahu was the best of his former league players.
"He's been the best in term of aptitude and application in trying to learn the game," McKenzie said. "It's a tough game and positional play's really important. Every time he takes the field he's doing it better and better."
Scores:
New South Wales 20 (Lachlan Turner 2, Rocky Elsom tries; Kurtley Beale penalty, conversion), Wellington 3 (Jimmy Gopperth penalty). HT, 10-3.
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