Woeful Waratahs punished by Blues

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A SHAMBOLIC display from the Waratahs has continued their horrid record at Eden Park, with the Blues outmuscling them to claim a 21-13 victory.

NSW's fourth loss of the season was punctuated by dropped passes, scrum penalties, lost lineouts, and the ignominy of being shoved off their own ruck ball in a woeful outing on Anzac Day.

The Blues proved that the midweek departure of Benji Marshall was no hindrance as backrower Jerome Kaino led his side to victory with a mighty performance.

MATCH CENTRE: Full scores, stats and video highlights

For the first time this season Israel Folau was kept tryless after taking the field, and the star fullback was invisible throughout the contest as the Blues used a relentless rush defence and breakdown power to prevail two tries to one.

This was a major blow for the Waratahs' aspirations to finish in the top two, particularly as they were playing the last-placed Kiwi franchise which has struggled for form in 2014.

"Maybe the boys were forcing one pass too much," NSW try-scorer Jacques Potgieter said.

"That really let us down, that extra pass, we were forcing it when we should have taken another phase and played on."

Potgieter said the Waratahs' shortened three-day preparation for the match was not a factor.

"We went into the game fresh, it's midway through the season now, and lots have teams have short turnarounds," Potgieter said.

Waratahs fullback Israel Folau was well held by the Blues. Source: Getty Images

NSW has only won one game at Eden Park in the history of Super Rugby, and the venue proved to be a graveyard for their attacking flair as chance after chance was bombed in attack.

Frustrations were clear in the second half when Kurtley Beale was smashed in a tackle by Kaino and Keven Mealamu, and then admonished Adam Ashley-Cooper — the most dangerous Waratahs attacker — for not running the correct line around him.

NSW didn't get on the scoreboard until 34 minutes into the game, through a Bernard Foley penalty, and trailed 8-3 at half-time with rookie Auckland winger Lolagi Visinia scoring a fine try in the 20th minute.

The Blues scored 10 points in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, with centre Francis Saili scoring an outstanding try from counter-attack.

Foley attempted a cross-field chip to winger Cam Crawford but he'd overrun it and a deflection landed in the arms of Visinia.

The flyer sprinted down the touchline before passing inside to Charles Piutau who in turn fed Saili who held off Michael Hooper to the line.

Potgieter finally crossed for NSW's only try in the 58th minute when he barged through the Blues' second row from close range.

A Foley penalty soon after brought the score to 18-13, but any momentum NSW could have used was snuffed out when halfback Brendan McKibbin's clearing boot from the kick-off went straight in the air, conceding an off-side penalty which Blues five-eighth Simon Hickey converted.

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Even as the Tahs pressed for a late try, poor handling let them down and the match fittingly ended when a long raid deep into added time was ruined when a NSW pass went into touch.

It could have been a different match had NSW converted an early chance.

Winger Rob Horne was denied a try just two minutes into the game when he was ruled to have committed a double movement in grounding the ball.

NSW found space on the flank after Folau fed Ashley-Cooper who beat a defender and passed to Horne, who appeared destined to score before being cut down by rival Frank Halai.

Horne then rolled over and reached out to plant the ball on the line, however television match official Glenn Newman ruled that he'd used his arm to lift himself toward the line while being held in the tackle, constituting a foul.

Horne was denied another try later in the half when he knocked on an intercept attempt before racing 70 metres to touch down under the posts.

BLUES 21 (Francis Saili, Lolagi Visinia tries Simon Hickey con 3 pens) bt NSW WARATAHS 13 (Jacques Potgieter try Bernard Foley con 2 pens) at Eden Park. Referee: Chris Pollock.

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