Off the back of an inspired performance from Max Jorgensen and a dominant scrum, the NSW Waratahs have recorded their best start to a season since 2009 after demolishing the Western Force 34-10 in Sydney on Saturday night.
Despite losing Test stars Jake Gordon and Langi Gleeson to injuries in the first half, the Waratahs were far too strong for an ill-disciplined Force side that fell back into poor habits as they gave away 19 penalties and ran in six tries to record a bonus point win.
The 24-point win saw last year’s cellar-dwellers move up into second place on 13 points, one point adrift of ladder-leaders the Chiefs, who became the latest big-name side to slip in Fiji earlier on Saturday.
But Dan McKellar insists his team is only getting started, and they won’t get ahead of themselves following their sudden turnaround in 2025.
“We won’t be falling in love with ourselves after tonight or the first three games,” McKellar said. “Anyone can beat anyone at the moment.
“Our challenge will come when we go away from home.
“Winning at home is nice, but winning away from home, they’re the really special memories. So that’s going to be the challenge for us over the next few weeks.”
Making the bonus point win all the more satisfying for McKellar was that it was done without their multi-million dollar recruit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
Max Jorgensen scored twice in the Waratahs’ big win over the Force at Allianz Stadium on March 08, 2025. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Step up Jorgensen.
The 20-year-old scored two of the Waratahs’ three first-half tries, leading the home side to a 15-5 half-time lead.
Then the Waratahs’ all-Wallabies front-row, including Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou, went to work, taking the Force’s scrum to the cleaners as the visitors failed to keep up with their Australian rivals. Bell, in particular, was outstanding during his 69-minute showing.
It allowed the Waratahs’ back three to cash in, with Jorgensen joined on the scoresheet by Darby Lancaster and Andrew Kellaway.
Tonight we started to unlock our attack tonight, which was pleasing. I think we scored six tries and the back scored four.
“We had the intent to shift the ball tonight and we managed to do that,” McKellar said.
“At the same time we continued to show that physicality and effort that we’ve been talking about in the fight.
“We spoke as a group just about first Australian derby for us. We wanted to lift the intensity of our preparation.
“The journey is just trying to change habits and behaviours, and the boys have bought into that. We managed to scrape through and win a couple of games to start with, and then tonight, encouragingly, we started to play a little bit of rugby. And that’s the Waratahs. That’s how the Waratahs have played for 100 years. And that’s important to us.
“We’ve got to understand that we can’t play like Randwick in the ’90s, but we certainly want to use the football and entertain and give people a reason to come and watch and see Jorgo get the ball in his hands and Kellaway and Lancaster and these boys.”
While McKellar would have appreciated the work being done by World Cup winner turned respected coach Mike Catt, he would have been just as pleased by his side’s defence.
Indeed, when the match was in the balance in the opening hour, it was the Waratahs’ defence, particularly their physicality at the collision zone, that stood out.
“I thought the real positive was that we defended really well tonight,” said captain Jake Gordon, who was forced off in the first half with a medial ligament injury that could keep him out of next Saturday’s clash against the Reds in Brisbane.
“I thought some of our higher linespeed defence put them under a lot of pressure.
“We put them under pressure at the right areas of the field. I thought our set-piece got pretty loose but our power game looked pretty good.”
Force coach Simon Cron didn’t have to think too hard about where it went wrong, pointing to his side’s poor discipline and inability to take their chances.
“How’d the game get away, discipline would be a good start,” Cron said. “We gave away too many penalties.
“I thought in the first half, a part from throwing that intercept, we were in control in key moments and I thought coming out in the second half we’d be OK, but discipline was the key. We gave away too many penalties and then our ball security was poor.”
Early on the game had a hint of a New Zealand derby about it, with the intensity and physicality a real feature.
Indeed, Nick Champion de Crespigny hammered into the defence, Tom Robertson was busy and Carlo Tizzano was everywhere.
But for the most part the Waratahs’ defence had all the answers.
Jorgensen scored first after collecting a difficult long cut out pass from new Waratahs playmaker Lawson Creighton.
The Force hit back through Tizzano, who scored his seventh try in his last five matches, who scored in tight after some great leg drive from Darcy Swain.
But for all their possession and territory the Force weren’t able to deliver a vital blow and eventually it bit them in the backside as Rob Leota gave the Waratahs the lead again after 29 minutes.
Four minutes later the Waratahs had their third try as Jorgensen intercepted out wide and the home side had a 15-5 lead.
Lancaster’s well-finished try gave the home side some breathing space before Felix Kalapu showed his brute strength by crashing over to blow open the game.
Kellaway ensured the entire back three got on the scoreboard, before replacement loose-head prop Ryan Coxon scored a late try for the visitors.
