{"id":298585,"date":"2023-05-20T11:50:28","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T11:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=298585"},"modified":"2023-05-20T12:59:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-20T12:59:30","slug":"re-signed-wallabies-star-blitzes-dangerous-drua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=298585","title":{"rendered":"Re-signed Wallabies star blitzes 'dangerous' Drua"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NSW Waratahs<\/a> have continued their undefeated Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> streak over the Fijian Drua in Super Rugby Pacific, surviving an enthralling contest at home.<\/p>\n

Although the 32-18 scoreline perhaps suggested a convincing win for the Sydneysiders, it was anything but.<\/p>\n

Mark Nawaqanitawase was the star for the 'Tahs at the Sydney Football Stadium, scoring two of the team's five tries in the 10th and 65th minute respectively.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> All matches streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The two sides looked like they would go into the half time break split by just two points at 8-6 in favour of the home side until Dylan Pietch scored long after the hooter had sounded.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

That gave the Waratahs a 13-6 lead at the break as the Drua managed just two penalty goals.<\/p>\n

Tevita Ikanivere opened the scoring in the second half for the Drua to draw the two sides level at 13 points apiece.<\/p>\n

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At that point, the evenly poised contest looked like it could go either way.<\/p>\n

What followed was a tit-for-tat exchange as Nawaqanitawase went over for the second of his tries before Joseva Tamani responded with a try of his own three minutes later in the 68th.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

A conversion charge down by Nawaqanitawase ensured the scores didn't remain level at 20-18.<\/p>\n

Then the Waratahs put the game beyond doubt as Langi Gleeson hit back almost immediately in the 71st minute before Mahi Vailanu sealed the win in the 77th.<\/p>\n

For Nawaqanitawase, it was a win to savour off the back of signing a contract extension with Rugby Australia that will keep him at the Waratahs and a contender for Wallabies starts.<\/p>\n

"Of course, leading into the finals we want to keep building good momentum and that was a tough one," said Nawaqanitawase.<\/p>\n

"Credit to the Drua. Very physical game. Our boys held out there and we got the win."<\/p>\n

\"Nawaqanitawase<\/p>\n

The win puts the Waratahs one win clear of their nearest rivals the Queensland Reds with two rounds remaining.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Waratahs will have a tough assignment in round 14 when they face the Crusaders in Christchurch but will host Moana Pasifika in round 15 for what should be an easy win.<\/p>\n

The Waratahs have won the past five of their six matches and their last four on the trot.<\/p>\n

"What we knew was the Fijian team is so dangerous on attack and they were going to test us throughout the night, which they did," said captain Jake Gordon.<\/p>\n

Max Jorgensen was the player of the match for the Waratahs.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NSW Waratahs have continued their undefeated Super Rugby Pacific streak over the Fijian Drua in Super Rugby Pacific, surviving an enthralling contest at home. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":298587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298585"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=298585"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298591,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298585\/revisions\/298591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/298587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=298585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=298585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=298585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}