2014 will go down as an historic year for New South Wales, in both Rugby League and Rugby Union as the NSW Blues won the State of Origin series for the first time since 2005 and the NSW Waratahs won their first ever Super Rugby title.
Both teams’ troubles have been well documented over the last number of seasons with off field disturbances involving top stars, drug scandals, dwindling crowds and financial difficulties.
New South Wales Rugby Glory
The State of Origin series, said by many to be the pinnacle of the sport, generates ferociously intense contests in a 3-game series involving the best players from Queensland and New South Wales.
The Queensland Maroons have held a tight grip over their fierce rivals as, going into the 2014 series, they had won an unprecedented 8-straight series from 2006-2013. The Melbourne Storm superstar trio of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk, along with Queensland greats Johnathan Thurston and Greg Inglis, have proved huge thorns in the side of the Blues.
The pain of these consecutive series defeats is exacerbated when you realise 7 of the 8 defeats came down to the series decider. The word ‘Chokers’ was indeed thrown around whenever the Blues were brought up in conversation.
So you can understand Blues’ fans delight when they managed to close out an incredibly tight game two by 6 points to 4 in Sydney (following their 12-8 victory in Brisbane in game one), and in doing so ended Queensland’s 8 year dominance of the series. If the series had been tied and headed back to Brisbane for the decider, the word ‘chokers’ may have been ringing in the ears of Blues’ fans once more.
The subsequent 32-8 defeat in game 3 to the Maroons turned out to be superfluous as the Blues’ inspirational captain Paul Gallen could now lift their first series trophy since 2005.
On to the other side of the Rugby divide, Rugby Union side the New South Wales Waratahs have mirrored their League cousins in their lack of success on the field in recent years. Super Rugby Final defeats in 2005 and 2008, both to the Crusaders of New Zealand, have been the closest the Waratahs have come to ending their Super Rugby drought. Subsequent mediocre seasons with dismal performances on the field increased the general apathy of the NSW public towards the Waratahs as crowd numbers nosedived.
A new era seemed to be dawning in 2013 as new coach Michael Cheika arrived, along with new signings including ex-NRL and AFL superstar Israel Folau, who ironically helped Queensland to 3 Origin series win over New South Wales in Rugby League. The re-signing of a rejuvenated Kurtley Beale for the 2014 campaign was a massive fillip for the Sydney-based franchise and with the leadership of their captain Michael Hooper, who is also captain of Australia and along with a powerful, young and hungry squad, the Waratahs were many people’s dark horses for the title.
The optimism was becoming reality as the Waratahs stormed through the regular season, breaking franchise records and leading the attacking and defensive stat charts in almost every aspect, with a style of play that won back the hearts of the paying NSW public. Their semi-final 26-8 victory over their Aussie rivals the ACT Brumbies in front of over 38,000 was arguably their greatest night for many a year.
But one could understand the ‘Tahs fans agitation when their opponents going into the 2014 finale was again their old foes Crusaders, who had broken their hearts twice previously and had beaten the Waratahs in their last 11 head to head meetings.
It is again similar to their League cousins, as the NSW Blues also faced up to a long losing streak to a dominant Queensland Maroons outfit that had become accustomed to winning the tight exchanges, with the Queensland public expecting a 9th straight State of Origin series win.
Going into the final at the 84,000 capacity ANZ Stadium in Sydney, the Crusaders were the bookmakers’ favourites despite the form of the Waratahs, which is understandable given the recent meetings between the two teams, including the Crusaders winning the last 4 clashes in Sydney.
A Super Rugby record crowd of 61,823 witnessed a fantastic spectacle as the Crusaders came back from a 14 point deficit early on to lead 26-23 going into the latter stages. An Adam Ashley-Cooper try, who would later be named man of the match, put the Waratahs 30-26 in front going into the final 10 minutes, but ill-discipline by the Waratahs allowed Colin Slade to slot home 2 late penalties to put the Crusaders in the lead 32-30 with barely 3 minutes remaining, a lead that looked likely to seal the match and Championship.
However, with less than 1 minute remaining, the great Richie McCaw gave away a needless penalty from 45 metres out and by doing so allowed Waratahs fly-half Bernard Foley the opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
With 45 metres being on the very limit of Foley’s kicking range, the crowd, all stood with bated breath, waited for the possibility that this could be the moment the Waratahs win their first Super Rugby crown. Foley didn’t disappoint the masses as he put the ball straight through the posts, a measure of his consistency throughout the season.
A nervy 30 seconds was to be endured by the Waratahs faithful as they collected the restart, but they negotiated this pressure with ease. At the sound of the hooter, the Waratahs scrum half duly cleared the ball into touch, sealing a historic first Championship for the men from Sydney.
With the Queensland Reds winning the Super Rugby title in 2011 and the Queensland Maroons winning 8 straight Origin series, the people of New South Wales have had little to cheer about and had to withstand a lot of ‘sledging’ from their rugby rivals in the north.
Times change and now it seems to be the time for the State of New South Wales to give some back.
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