SYDNEY -- The British & Irish Lions may have kept their unbeaten tour record alive in Australia, but their performance was well short of the expectation of coach Andy Farrell on what was otherwise a memorable night for NSW rugby.
While the Lions triumphed 21-10, it was the Waratahs who played well above their reputations. NSW produced a spirited performance like few others they have mustered in recent years -- probably since the Michael Cheika days in fact -- as they went toe-to-toe with Farrell's men for the entire 80 minutes at Allianz Stadium.
It is not an overstatement to say that this was their gutsiest effort at the rebuilt Sydney venue, which ironically will soon have its turf resown -- and had the visitors making allegations that the Waratahs had "watered" the pitch pre-game.
"Unfortunately, we were just a little bit inaccurate around set-piece and with ball in hand at key times, it probably stopped us from... if we'd got the 21-17 there and make it a contest in the last few minutes, it would've been interesting," a philosophical Waratahs coach Dan McKellar said.
"But yeah, proud of the effort."
The condition of the surface may have had something more to do with the 70mm of rain that fell earlier in the week, while Sydney nights typically leave a coating of dew at this time of year. And it wasn't that bad either, certainly compared with other games played at the same venue.
While the Lions lamented 20 turnovers and, as Farrell put it, a desire to "overplay", the Waratahs' defence was heroic, much of it inside their own 22, as they repelled the Lions on multiple occasions and kept them to just three tries. That was illustrated perfectly by both Tom Lambert and Teddy Wilson, who denied Josh van der Flier and Ellis Genge respectively with separate pieces of last-gasp tryline defence.
Scrum-half Alex Mitchell and centre Huw Jones were among the few Lions to push their case for a Test start, otherwise this was a disappointing performance from the visitors following their efforts in Perth and then Brisbane.
While they dominated possession and territory, particularly in the second half, they lacked fluency and clarity in their play, with young England fly-half Fin Smith unable to command his side with any great direction.
Had it not been for Mitchell, who scored one try and produced several other crafty pieces of play, the Lions may well have been facing one of the biggest upsets in their storied history. They simply did not cope with the Waratahs' breakdown threat, led by Gamble, as NSW disrupted their recycle throughout the 80 minutes in Sydney.
"Well listen, it is nice to get a win, but I suppose at this stage we're trying to judge the performance, aren't we, a little bit more" Farrell reflected post-match. "So disappointed enough with the amount of possession and territory that we had and how we dealt with certain situations, a different type of game.
"But I'll be glad that's happened to us. Yeah, we are because there's some good learnings that we need to learn quickly, in regards to that type of game."
The Waratahs were paying as much as $30 with local bookmakers before kick-off; not only did they make a mockery of that price, and countless pundits along the way, but NSW also restored a huge amount of pride in their jersey and will have convinced supporters that if they play like they did on Saturday night, they will certainly be worth watching in 2026.
Just how they can bottle that attitude will be top of McKellar's list over the offseason, as he also attempts to plug the holes left by the departing Taniela Tupou, Langi Gleeson and Rob Leota, as well as several other long-time Waratahs contributors.
And that was what made this Waratahs performance all the more impressive. NSW were without regular starters Angus Bell, Dave Porecki, Gleeson, Jake Gordon and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, all of whom will have watched on up the M1 in Newcastle inspired by their provincial teammates' performance.
"I think there's a rugby community in New South Wales that are desperate to get behind the Waratahs and I think we saw that earlier in the year. It's just disappointing the finish. We had injuries to key players," McKellar reflected on the season.
"I think the profile of our injuries this year is significantly better but when Joseph's [Suaalii] only playing five games, [Max] Jorgensen's playing five, [Dave] Porecki's playing six, Jake Gordon, they're experienced quality players that you need and you need a bit of luck and that comes down to injury.
"So ideally we can keep them on the park next year and keep that strike power on the park but continue to play with the same sort of courage and bravery that we did tonight because we certainly have to be better from an attacking point of view."
Earlier, the Lions had made the near perfect start as Australian-born centre Sione Tuipulotu dropped a beautiful short ball off to his midfield partner Huw Jones, who cut through to score after 12 minutes.
Jones added his second 21 minutes later, but only after the Waratahs had stretched the Lions inside their own 22, and forced referee Paul Williams to issue a yellow-card warning for repeated infringements along the way, before the hosts then had a try to Charlie Gamble scrubbed off for maul obstruction.
The same offence would deny the visitors a try in the closing minutes, while the TMO was an ever-present threat throughout the contest, much to the ire of the 40,568-strong crowd.
No moment more so than when the video referee very nearly denied Waratahs winger Darby Lancaster who, outside of Mitchell and teammate Charlie Gamble, was the other standout player on the field, the winger producing a powerful finish through Irish fullback Hugo Keenan after sumptuous handling from forwards Tupou and Leota.
The try was eventually upheld despite a dubious cleanout from Fergus Lee-Warner on Mack Hansen, much to the relief of the home fans.
NSW began the second half with a bang, turning an immediate penalty from the restart into a rolling maul try for hooker Ethan Dobbins; again fly-half Jack Bowen was unable to convert, and the Waratahs barely threatened the Lions' 22 thereafter.
But their defensive attitude and execution was exceptional. Even when the inevitable holes opened up - the Lions made nine line breaks in total -- their desperation forced the Lions into one more pass, or one more failed stretch as it was with Genge and van der Flier.
Mitchell's 55th minute five-pointer could have opened the floodgates, aided by the fresh legs off the bench, but the introductions only further seemed to complicate things for the Lions. Replacement Marcus Smith's late kick dead from a penalty was a final insult for the tourists, who conceded 20 turnovers and were repeatedly thwarted by Waratahs openside Gamble.
They did enjoy dominance at scrum time, and also gave the Waratahs trouble at the lineout. But the set-piece and Mitchell's many touches of class aside, this performance will have sucked away some of the momentum borne out of their impressive victories over the Western Force and Queensland Reds.
Tupou, meanwhile, did not produce the dominant showing Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt would have been hoping for. It was, if anything, more of the same he dished up throughout the Super Rugby season.
The prop's double-pump for Lancaster's try was a reflection of his silky handling skills, but the bread-and-butter of his game, scrummaging, wasn't where it needs to be. The other Wallaby released from camp in Newcastle, Andrew Kellaway, saw very little ball.
Still, when referee Williams blew for fulltime, it was the Waratahs high-fiving -- and the Lions dropping their heads, some surely knowing they have played their way out of Test contention.
A matchday 23 far nearer the one we'll see in Brisbane in two weeks' time will likely run out for the Lions in Canberra on Wednesday night. And boy, don't they need them.