Waratahs put an end to Wagga City's winning streak

After dropping to third last week after a 23-7 loss to Griffith, Waratahs fired out of the blocks at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday.

With Wagga City coach James Beaufils and winger Chris Hartshorn-Giddings both handed yellow cards in the opening 20 minutes Waratahs took advantage.

They crossed for the first four tries of the game to lead 22-0.

Wagga City responded but they couldn't reel in their rivals to fall to their first loss since 2019.

Coach Jonno Andreou was thrilled to take a 37-27 victory.

"We needed it," Andreou said.

"There has been a lot of talk about where the club is and I think we showed where we are in the competition.

"It shows we've got a good core group of people."

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Waratahs capitalised on a Wagga City mistake as Harry Hosegood opened the scoring.

Beaufils was then giving his marching orders and after another Wagga City turnover Jayden Stanton was able to double the Waratahs lead.

Their third was a trick play off a line out as thrower Emilio De Fanti snuck down the short side to score.

A clever Lachie Day kick then found Jackson McAuliffe to continue the bright start from Waratahs.

In ominous signs John Vakatalai scored after Wagga City created an overlap still a man down with their first real attacking opportunity of the game.

However after an error off the restart Waratahs hit back as Hosegood went over under the posts.

Wagga City cut into the scoreline as Tom Turukawa crossed leading into half-time however it was Waratahs who took a 29-12 lead.

The two sides exchanged tries to start the second half before Day slotted a penalty goal to increase Waratahs' advantage to 20 points.

Jesse Uhr scored two late tries to cut into the margin but City left their run too late.

Despite the Boiled Lollies cutting into the margin late, Andreou was pleased with the team's defensive effort after their fast start.

"That's the sort of rugby we want to play so it was nice to have some ball and not give it back to them but they showed they've still got a lot of points in them so we have to fix up our defence a little bit," he said. "We had enough points to get home."

Now he's looking to back that up with a clash with Ag College at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday.

Aggies scored their first win over Waratahs in seven years earlier this season and will be looking to repeat the dose with plenty of pressure on their place in the top four.

Meanwhile Wagga City will be looking to hit back when they tackle Albury.

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