What can South African sides learn from the Waratahs vs Brumbies?

Man, what a match! Skill, passion, the works.

I think the biggest impression the match left with me was the patience and confidence shown by the Waratahs. After the start made by the Brumbies, and the incredible defence that shut down every move the Waratahs made, it would have been easy for this one to have got away from the Tahs.

But pin-point kicking for position got the NSW side back into it. What a difference from the desperate aimless stuff that characterises SA sides kicking.

The other thing that looked different from SA sides was the workrate of both sides' players. Man, are SA sides fit enough? George Smith and Phil Waugh were at the top of their game. Sailor and Tiquiri looked for work everywhere. Most impressive was the cleaning out at ruck time. What a difference quick ball makes. It is dependent on forwards getting to the point of breakdown quickly, and both the Tahs and Brumbies forwards did that. It also means running good support lines and running into areas where you team can support you.

There were mistakes, more-so for the Brumbies after Bernie Larkham went off, but generally the handling was in a different league to that of SA teams.

Larkham's injury certainly impacted the Brumbies. But SA sides can learn from the Waratah's performance.

Sadly confidence breeds this kind of success and SA sides are woefully short of that.