ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham has pondered whether his team's expectations of a home final were already out of reach after a five-point loss to the season.
It was their third defeat in six matches, sitting in fifth on the ladder with a game in hand on most teams.
Watch every game of SMARTECH Super Rugby Pacific live and on-demand via Stan Sport.
"It's a short competition, and for us, we've had three losses now, so that's tough. We can learn from this, but maybe there's too much damage done already," Larkham said post-match.
"We've spoken about how important it is to be the top of the table at the end of the season, give you sort of a good run through the finals.
"But all the way through, you're learning from every game, whether you win or you lose, you're always learning little things. So this will be something that will sit with us now going forward, and hopefully, it will make us better in the next games that we play.
"...It's been a tough start to the season for us now when you add that in there and we've got some work to do now."
Larkham lamented a lack of composure in all areas of the Brumbies after a number of calls and a ruthless Waratahs left them chasing the game.
"We were all getting a little bit frustrated on the sideline, in the coach's box, on the field. We needed a little bit more composure throughout the game," he notes.
"When you look at the full 80-minute performance there, there were a couple of decisions that weren't consistent (but) we had two yellow cards and that had nothing to do with the referee. That was 100 per cent on us.
"That's a challenge. You lose your hooker, your line-out struggles a little bit there.
"There was a crucial time in the second half there just to go down. We held pretty well through that period, it catches up on you by the end of the game. There was a fair amount of fatigue in the bodies."
The Brumbies rallied from 15 points at half-time to give themselves a chance late, only for late errors and a Max Jorgensen wonder assist to Joey Walton to prove the difference.
" I think for us, we've just got to understand how we could give ourselves the opportunity to win that game," captain Allan Alaalatoa said.
"We did late in the second half, but we just weren't clinical with our kick-off receipts."
