The Eric Tweedale Stadium was opened in style, with a healthy crowd turning up to watch the Waratahs take on West Harbour, the Hunter Wildfires, and the Western Sydney Two Blues in three 25-minute matches.
Waratahs Head Coach Darren Coleman used the matches as an opportunity to have a look at the depth of his wider squad resting several senior players and all his Wallabies.
The men in Sky-Blue took on West Harbour in the opening match of the day and ran out 26-0 winners’ courtesy of tries to Langi Gleeson (two), Nick Chan and Dave Porecki.
Gleeson scored the opening try of the match with a barging run from close range while Tane Edmed set up the next two with a deft grubber for Nick Chan, before a bursting run through midfield to set up Langi Gleeson for his second. Dave Porecki grabbed the final try of the match finishing off a rolling maul from a 5m attacking lineout.
Next up for the Waratahs it was the Hunter Wildfires with Darren Coleman’s side earning a 26-5 win, with Tane Edmed again heavily involved.
Triston Reilly scored a hat-trick with the help of a beautiful offload from Alex Newsome for his first, a nice chip over the top from Tane Edmed for his second, and a jarring tackle from Dylan Pietsch spilling the ball from his opposite, allowing Reilly to pick up the spoils to race away for his third.
Tane Edmed grabbed a try of his own after a quick tap from Henry Robertson had the Wildfires defence reeling, allowing the young fly-half to skip past two defenders to score the final try of the match.
The Waratahs rounded out the day with a 27-0 win over the Western Sydney Two Blues, with Harry Wilson, Henry Robertson, James Turner, Mahe Vailanu and Max Burey all scoring tries.
Harry Wilson brushed off two defenders down the short for the first try of the match while Henry Robertson caught the Two Blues napping with a sneaky dart off a 20m attacking scrum for the second.
James Turner kept up his try scoring form nabbing his third in two weeks, while Mahe Vailanu demonstrated the depth the Waratahs have in the hooking department, bulldozing his way through to the try line for the fourth try of the match.
Max Burey, who stepped in for Tane Edmed at fly-half, scored in the final play of the game with a nice hard run bursting through two defenders 10m out from the Two-Blues line.
The Waratahs now look towards their next final match of their pre-season against the Reds in the Santos Festival of Rugby in Roma next Saturday.
