'Do you want to take the easy option?': Waratahs fall apart after holding 12 point lead

Dan McKellar was a very cranky coach after the NSW Waratahs blew a 12 point lead in a damaging 35-20 loss to the Blues at Sydney's Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.

After winning their opening two games, the Waratahs have now lost three straight and have slipped out of the finals spots in seventh place on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder.

It is a repeat of what happened last year under McKellar, as the Blues chalked up their 12th straight win over NSW.

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Jack Debreczeni booted the home side to a 20-8 lead early in the second half before Vern Cotter's men piled on 27 unanswered points to grab a bonus point win.

"Pretty disappointed, 12 point lead," McKellar told Stan Sport's Morgan Turinui.

"Attack-wise, probably looked our best tonight, for long periods of time. In that first 20-25 minutes we didn't take our opportunities. But 12 point lead, discipline, piggyback them downfield - you give the Blues field position and entries into their A (attacking) zone, they're going to hurt you."

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Waratahs centre Triston Reilly was a late scratching with injury as Lawson Creighton came into the midfield.

McKellar said the Waratahs should have scored more points but were let down by basic skill errors.

His players look set to receive a rocket.

"We spoke about it at halftime... discipline was right at the top of the list and obviously that message wasn't clear enough," McKellar said.

"It's individual choices. Do you want to give yourself half a yard to make sure you're onside or do you want to take the easy option and be pinged for it?"

NSW now face a tough trip to Canberra to meet the third-placed ACT Brumbies on Friday night.

"I've been really proud of the reactions over the last couple of weeks," McKellar said.

"It's difficult when you've lost a couple of games back-to-back. Brumbies vs Waratahs, down there - a big, big, contest from a historical point of view. Individual contests as well that come within that game, so we'll bounce back."

The victory takes the Blues to second on the ladder, behind only the Hurricanes.

The Blues scored five tries to two in a match that had looked out of their reach.

Once the Blues were able to get their hands on some quality possession over the second spell, they struck with enough regularity to put the contest on ice.

Wingers Caleb Clarke and Cody Vai both continued their standout form for the victors, rookie Vai notching his third try in three starts, and Clarke leading the team in carry metres again with 64.

Beauden Barrett drove the comeback superbly, while centre AJ Lam also had a night to remember with two tries, 31m on the charge and six defenders beaten.

As the Blues took control in the second term he was instrumental in so much of what they did well.

Skipper Dalton Papali'i lasted just the first 40 minutes, before withdrawing with injury, but still made 18 tackles without a miss.

Sam Darry put in another big shift at lock (19 tackles, no misses) and Brad Slater was strong at starting hooker for the Kiwis.

The Blues' bench also made a huge impact as they seized control over the second stanza, with halfback Taufa Funaki influential again, and Josh Beehre, Marcel Renata and Torian Barnes also adding their impact.

There was time also for Payton Spencer, son of Blues legend Carlos, to make his first franchise appearance off the pine and tuck in a pair of runs.

Young fullback Sid Harvey, either off the run (a game-high 139m) or with his steely boot, was outstanding for the Waratahs, and looks one for the future.

Jack Debreczeni also had a productive outing at No.10 and up front loose forward Jamie Adamson was the pick of a pack that would probably want that one back again.

The halftime stats said it all as the Tahs won 66 per cent possession, 75 per cent territory, had 12 entries to the 22 to just four and carried for 339 metres to 50.

That they led just 10-8 deep into the spell said a lot about an outstanding defensive effort from the Blues.

The visitors nailed 99 of their 109 first-40 tackle attempts and dug in splendidly to deny the home side from crossing for even more than their two tries.

The Tahs were held up multiple times over the line, grassed several other cast-iron try opportunities under pressure and were in danger of entering the break with the slenderest of leads until the late score from prop Dan Botha.

Blues halfback Fin Christie, seizing on an opening when Slater came up just short on the charge, put his team out to the early 5-0 lead that was answered by Harvey's penalty and then Debreczeni's contentious try just past the half-hour mark.

It looked for all money as though home lock Miles Amatosero had bobbled the ball forward in the tackle, but the referee, and even the TMO, ruled it had gone backwards to allow Debreczeni to snaffle and stroll over for the go-ahead try.

With the Waratahs rampant, and the Kiwi side hanging on for dear life, it looked like the home side's dominance was not going to be rewarded on the scoreboard until Botha just managed to ground over the line in a melee of bodies on the stroke of halftime.

An early Harvey penalty put the Tahs out 20-8 after the restart, before the Blues found their groove with a half-hour to go.

Vai, the hard-charging Lam (twice) and replacement loosie Torian Barnes all crossed for tries as the visitors finished with a wet sail, and left the despondent Sydneysiders in their wake.

"That first half it felt like we were on a treadmill chasing the Waratahs," noted Barrett post-game.

"We were scrambling but managed to limit the damage at halftime."