Tahs grab crucial win

John Ulugia: crucial try

The New South Wales Waratahs kept their Super Rugby semi-final hopes alive with a 20-15 win over the Western Force.

The Waratahs remain in second place in the Australian conference, nine points behind Queensland, after third-string hooker John Ulugia scored a vital try that would send the visitors to back-to-back defeats.

Centre James O'Connor landed five penalty goals, as the Force held a slender 15-13 lead well into the second half.

But the Waratahs started to find some shape in attack when it counted and it was during this period that Ulugia struck, going over from close-range in the 70th minute to hand his side victory and a fighting chance of usurping the Reds at the top of the Australian conference with six rounds to play.

Kurtley Beale pushed a fifth-minute penalty goal attempt to the right of the posts, but O'Connor had no problems with his first attempt four minutes later to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.

Beale levelled the scores with a simple penalty goal in the 18th minute before the Tahs were penalised for not releasing at the breakdown, allowing O'Connor to restore the Force's three-point advantage with an impressive wide-range goal.

Waratahs centre Ryan Cross was pinged for obstructing Force number eight Richard Brown during a kick, which handed O'Connor the chance to stretch his team's lead out to six points after 26 minutes.

Deficit

A Pek Cowan infringement at the breakdown on the half hour presented the Waratahs with three points courtesy of Beale's right boot, but the home side headed into the break 9-6 down - just their second half-time deficit at home in two seasons.

The Waratahs needed a positive start to the second half and they received it in the most fortunate of circumstances, with a wide-range Beale penalty goal attempt bouncing off the posts and into the arms of a charging Cross who stole a much-needed five-pointer against his former side.

Beale's conversion pushed NSW out to a 13-9 lead after 45 minutes.

O'Connor added two more penalty goals to put his side in front 15-13.

But the desperate Waratahs began pressuring the Force's line and it paid dividends in the 70th minute when a strong Luke Burgess charge from a scrum paved the way for Ulugia to sneak over a couple of phases later.

Beale converted from in front to give the Waratahs their crucial five-point victory.

"It was certainly tough," Waratahs captain Dean Mumm said. "They made us work for every scrap of possession. Every win is important. That's two in a row now and we just need to keep winning."