Waratahs

Tahs vow to persevere with offload game

The Tahs lost their first two Super Rugby games, by 18 to the Crusaders and 20 to the Blues, each time paying the price for botching potential scoring opportunities with poor ball control.

In the two instances NSW held onto the ball for more than eight phases against the Blues, they scored tries.

"As coaches, the last thing we're going to tell the boys is to stop the offloads," Whitaker said.

"We're not a team that can go out there and just play one pass, tuck it under their wing and carry into contact because we're not big enough to do that.

Crusaders start 2020 season with comfortable win over Waratahs

The Crusaders opened the scoring with a penalty kick to hometown hero David Havili in the 10th minute and never relinquished the lead for the rest of the match.

Wingers Will Jordan and Leicester Faingaanuku and midfielder Braydon Ennor all scored tries in the first half, while Waratahs first five Will Harrison kept his side in the match early with two penalties.

By halftime the Crusaders had a 24-6 lead and looked to be cruising as first five Richie Mo'unga kept the visitors guessing with his pin point cross field kicks and deft passing.

Waratahs sign Japanese 7s international

Waratahs coach Rob Penney hinted at a new centre signing some weeks ago and it was reported then that Lasila was reported to be on his way, the club only confirmed his addition on Thursday.

The Japanese Sevens international and former Tonga U23 player played under Penney at Japanese division two club Toyota and it was that relationship that brought him to NSW.

“Siosifa has a fantastic skill-set, he can play right across the backline and most importantly he’s a good team man who understands what we’re trying to build here at the [NSW] Waratahs,” Penney said.

Beale re-signs with Waratahs

The versatile back, who has played in 83 Tests for the Wallabies, will return for an 11th season with the Waratahs in 2020.

While international team-mates such as Bernard Foley and David Pocock will head overseas after the World Cup in Japan later this year, Beale has elected to remain in Australia to play his club rugby.

The 30-year-old needs just 10 more appearances to break the Waratahs' record for the most Super Rugby appearances.

Waratahs to rest test stars despite slim chance of making Super Rugby finals

Rugby Australia avoided a nightmare scenario of having to decide whether to enforce its new Wallabies resting policy at the likely expense of NSW playing finals, after the Waratahs' season was all but ended by the Brumbies last week.

It means Michael Hooper, Rob Simmons, Sekope Kepu, Bernard Foley and Kurtley Beale will all likely miss the match on Friday.

NSW can still make finals but they need a bonus-point victory and several results to fall their way.

Waratahs assistant coach Steve Tandy confirmed players would be rested and backed the next wave to step up.

Hope, pride and Wallabies duels to drive Waratahs in run home: Beale

Those will be will be the driving forces behind the Waratahs in their last three games, according to Kurtley Beale, despite the fact NSW will need a miracle to make the finals.

The Waratahs crashing to an eighth loss for the season on Saturday night against the Jaguares left them sitting in 12th on the ladder, eight points behind the Brumbies and seven behind the Rebels, and four points outside the top eight.

No excuses from Crusaders

The two-time defending champions have been beaten 20-12 by the Waratahs at the Sydney Cricket Ground, ending their winning run at 19.

"It was a tough week but look we're Crusaders, we don't make excuses we just needed to be better in a lot of parts of the game," coach Scott Robertson said.

The teams stood arm-in-arm in a circle on the pitch for a minute's silence in memory of the victims of the Christchurch attack before the start of the match.

John Folau to run out for emerging Waratahs

Folau signed a deal with the Waratahs at the end of last year but didn't feature in preseason due to injuries.

The younger brother of Israel Folau will start on the right wing in Friday evening's clash against the Kiwis, one of 15 Waratahs players in the 28-man squad.

South African giant Le Roux Roets is also set to make a start after his Super Rugby chances were dealt a blow with concussion in the final Waratahs trial.

Former Schoolboys Will Harris and Will Harrison are also in the squad, the latter starting at fullback.

Waratahs stunned at Latu's suspension but accept ban

NSW grudgingly accepted a six-match suspension for Latu on Tuesday after he plead guilty to a dangerous charge into a ruck or maul, under law 9.20, against the Sunwolves.

Ed Quirk suffered a knee injury in a 79th minute incident, and though appearing to have a case to argue Latu was within his rights to tackle the ball carrier, the Waratahs plead guilty and anticipated a mid-range, 3-4 week penalty.

Spear tackles usually attract four week bans, and Bulls forward Pierre Schoeman was suspended for six weeks last year for biting Richard Hardwick.

Foley miss seals Hurricanes win

Foley, who surpassed Matthew Burke's record of 959 points with a third-minute penalty goal at Brookvale Oval, had landed all five of his earlier attempts on Saturday night.

But with just over a minute left, the normally reliable pressure kicker failed to land a penalty from just beyond 30 metres, to the horror of most of the 17,111 sellout crowd.