Attention to detail pays off for Waratahs in Super Rugby final triumph over Crusaders

Canterbury left ruing slow start after hosts raced to early 14-0 lead

New South Wales Waratahs centre Adam Ashley-Cooper, right, pushes off the tackle of Canterbury Crusaders prop Owen Franks to score during the Super Rugby final in Sydney on August 2, 2014. William West / AFPShow less

Bernard Foley's late penalty will go down as the deciding action in the New South Wales Waratahs' victory in Saturday's Super Rugby final, but for coach Michael Cheika the triumph was built on getting the little things right.

Fly-half Foley’s 79th-minute kick gave the Waratahs a 33-32 victory over the seven-time champions Canterbury Crusaders and their first Super Rugby title in front of an ecstatic crowd of 61,823 at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney.

The victory capped the revolution Cheika has inspired in his two years at the club, transforming an underachieving team coming off its worst season and regularly booed off the park by dwindling crowds into southern hemisphere champions.

Manpower changes have played their part, as has a running style of rugby that has overwhelmed several opponents this year.

Most of all, though, it is Cheika’s emphasis on detail that shows the character of the team.

“We’ve really hung in in situations where we’ve struggled this year,” he said.

“Because of the way we play, you can really get into trouble if teams come hard at you. We lost our way a bit in the second half and we had to get ourselves back on track.

“But we really persisted and that persistence in the small things is the really good character in the team.”

Cheika said he particularly enjoyed the reaction of his players when the late penalty, which at 44 metres was outside Foley’s normal range, was awarded for a Richie McCaw ruck infringement.

“What I liked about it was that the players really believed in him. There was no hesitation, no doubt, he stepped up and said ‘I’ll take responsibility for this’,” he said.

“That really pleased me because one thing we’ve been trying to do here is to get people to take responsibility, not worrying about losing or not making the kick.”

Cheika has another year left on his contract and, despite being linked with the Argentine national team, said he was going nowhere, even if he had already achieved his main goal.

“We made ourselves the opportunity this year and we took it and that was really nice,” he said.

“It does not mean that we’re not going to try and do it again next year, I can guarantee you that.”

Cheika paid tribute to his squad and his back-room staff but had a special word for experienced centre Adam Ashley-Cooper, who scored both of the team’s tries.

“There’s one word to describe that guy on and off the field and that’s class,” he said. “He delivers every week, consistently.”

The victory gives Cheika a unique coaching double after he led Irish province Leinster to a European Cup triumph in 2009.

“They’re both great, but the thing that’s extra here is that I had all my family and friends and it’s my home state,” he said.

“I was just moved and touched by the crowd. I think this year has been the year that New South Welshmen and women decided it’s all right to cheer.”

Disappointed Crusaders captain Kieran Read tried to put a brave face on his side's agonising loss. The Crusaders were less than two minutes from victory when Foley's last-gasp penalty gave the Australian side victory.

“We didn’t come here for this result, but you have to give full credit to New South Wales. When you give them the lead that we did, it’s very hard to run down,” Read said.

The Waratahs had raced into a 14-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes, and Read said that had proven costly to their hopes of winning an eighth title despite them having fought back to go in front twice in the second half.

“We probably didn’t handle that pressure early on and let them get a roll on, and it was a case for us to get our hands on the ball and creating our own pressure,” he said.

“In the second half, we probably controlled it and they had one opportunity and took it.”

It was the Waratahs’s first victory over the Crusaders in their past 12 meetings since 2004.

Fly-half Colin Slade finished with 20 points from a conversion and six penalties for the Crusaders, while winger Nemani Nadolo scored a controversial try, awarded after adjudication by a television match official, and flanker Matt Todd scored a try in the first half.

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