Wasteful Waratahs insist 'we're on the right track' despite damaging loss to Brumbies

The ACT Brumbies all but ended the NSW Waratahs' finals hopes with a gritty 21-14 win at Sydney's Allianz Stadium on Friday night.

A late Max Jorgensen try earned the Waratahs a losing bonus point meaning they are mathematically still alive with one round to play before the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs.

"We can't put a fork in them just yet," Sean Maloney said on Stan Sport.

Watch the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season with every match streaming live and on demand on the home of rugby, Stan Sport

The Waratahs remain seventh on the ladder on 26 points while the Brumbies locked up their finals berth and sit in fifth place with 33 points.

The top six teams qualify for the finals.

"A heartbreaking loss," ex-NSW star Morgan Turinui said.

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The Waratahs showed plenty of attacking endeavour but the Brumbies were typically far more clinical.

"This one really hurts. We should have been up by 20 in the first half," NSW fullback Jorgensen bemoaned.

Brumbies tight-five forwards Billy Pollard, Cadeyrn Neville and Allan Alaalatoa scored tries to give the visitors a 21-0 lead before Waratahs Isaac Kailea and then Jorgensen made a game of it.

NSW finish their regular season away to the Western Force in Perth on May 30.

"We've just got to have an enjoyable week together. If it happens to be our last week, there's a few boys that have been around the Waratahs for a long, long time who are moving on," Waratahs coach Dan McKellar told Stan Sport.

"So make sure we enjoy the week together and really important we go over to Perth and throw a few punches.

"They're a good side, they've improved significantly, challenge you, and we were pretty disappointed with how we played against them here a few weeks back. So, look, I don't think we'll have any issue with getting up and about. We're professional rugby players and coaches and that's our job."

The Brumbies host last-placed Moana Pasifika in Canberra on the same day.

ACT coach Stephen Larkham had Sydney Roosters supremo Trent Robinson in his camp with the NRL club enjoying a bye week.

Champion Waratahs coach Michael Cheika is now Robinson's right-hand man at the Roosters.

"The coaches love keeping each other tight, don't they? They're a rare breed of human with some of the pressures they have to deal with," ex-NSW captain Michael Hooper said.

"So sometimes going out and doing PD (personal development) for these coaches is speaking to other coaches in different sports and different codes and saying: 'What pressures do you face? How do you deal with them? What little things can they pick up in these environments that they can take back home?'

"And that's why someone like Trent Robinson's so good, because he is always learning. He's been in high-performance environments for so long and he's still keen to learn more.

"He's a great bloke and just loves all things rugby."

McKellar also missed the finals in his first season in charge last year.

"I think we've made huge progress, a lot of which the public can't see; it's within the four walls of the building," McKellar insisted.

"You've got to understand when we took over this group, it was a group that had come last. We're really lacking in a lot of key areas to perform consistently at this level. We've made a lot of change, but we're on the right track.

"We're far from where we need to be, but progress is not always through results. I understand that we need to get results.

"I'm not going to be chopping and changing. I've got a way I go about doing things and I think that it works.

"Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. I'm not going to listen to every voice that's out there or start listening to people outside the building, because if I do that, then I'll be sitting with them. So that won't be happening."

Earlier on Friday, the Crusaders beat the Chiefs 36-32 in a thrilling grand final rematch in front of a sellout Christchurch crowd.