The NSW Waratahs are riding high after a crucial win over the ACT Brumbies, which helped end an eight-game losing streak at GIO Stadium.
The Waratahs rode the boot of young gun Sid Harvey for a 30-28 victory in Canberra, lifting them into the top six briefly after three straight defeats.
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Scrumhalf Jake Gordon is the last surviving player remaining from the side that tasted success in Canberra against the Brumbies in 2018.
In fact, replacement hooker Folau Fainga’a and assistant coach Lachlan McCaffrey were on the other side as the Waratahs took a 25-17 win.
But after three straight losses, including two from identical positions as last week, the Wallaby stressed the importance of the result for their season.
“It is a really tough place to play. I played in 2018 when we won, and it feels like a long time ago now, but this was a really important period for us as a team,” he told Rugby.com.au post match.
“We knew coming down here against a team that's been performing really well was super important.”
“I thought we won the big moments tonight.”
The Waratahs were refusing to get carried away, lamenting a period before and after the break when they gave up their 21-7 lead, with Gordon praising the impact of their bench.
“There's a lot of games to go,” he said. “We’re thrilled that we beat a really good team at a really good, important part of the year, but there's still plenty that we need to work on as a team.
“…We spoke about the last two or three weeks around the important moments in those last games. There are important moments throughout games, but especially they're magnified later in games, and we spoke about our energy and our ability to stay on track with our game plan.
“I thought our bench applied pressure when they came on. We played to the right end of the field, especially in those later quarters.”
Waratahs coach Dan McKellar wanted the group to soak in the ‘special memory’ before next week’s trip to Hamilton to face the Chiefs.
"I just spoke to the boys about how we're a pretty new group together, and that we want to create special memories,” he said post-game.
"Tonight's a special memory. To come into a place that we've got enormous respect for ... we fronted up and delivered."
