Yes, the Waratahs do deserve to be in the Super 14 finals. They’ve certainly had their lucky moments and dead spots over the past three months, but showed against the Hurricanes they have the qualities to be a finals side.

They mixed flair with fight, dogged defence with death-defying feats, speed with steam.

But there were still some disconcerting moments before they secured a finals spot.

For the Waratahs, the first half was a classic case of all possession, too many chances to score, not enough taken advantage of. It was an enormous waste, as they led by just nine points scoring only two first half tries. With the endless possession they enjoyed they should have finished with at least double that, and could have had the game locked up.

As the Hurricanes did not have the ball in their hands for any length of time until the 36th minute, they were certainly let off by the home team who wore for a charity last night a technicolour dreamcoat as their jersey. All the dazzling colours and busy design must have affected them because at times they played with great panache, but other times lost their way through disorientation.

When it worked, the Waratahs were marvellous – especially when Kurtley Beale effected a tremendous chip and chase to score the first try. Over the past month, Beale has at last found his feet, and don’t be surprised if he appears as the Test fullback for the opening international against Fiji in Canberra next month, forcing Adam Ashley-Cooper to revert to outside centre. Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is a Beale fan.

Then Lachie Turner and Drew Mitchell, who have so often kept the Waratahs in focus, combined to score the next. Mitchell has been getting all the praise, but Turner showed what he can really do when offered space, galloping almost the length of the field, before throwing a double cut-out 10-metre pass that put his other winger over the line. Turner was involved in several other spectacular moments, such as when he produced a Bobby Simpson-like slips catch to stop the Hurricanes scoring a length of the field try.

But there were also some silly moments such as when halfback Luke Burgess took a quick tap near the opposition line in the 26th minute when the three penalty points was the far smarter option.

The Waratahs messed up the next attacking move.

But a few minutes later when another penalty was offered on virtually the same spot, someone showed enough sense to take the three points.

There were also less-assured moments.

Suddenly Waratahs prop Dan Palmer was seeing Mickey Mouse in 3D after getting a wayward knee to the head, prompting the unexpected arrival of Jeremy Tilse, who astounded everyone the week before when he required attention after getting hit in the head with a footy in Hamilton.

Thankfully, Tilse didn’t have to worry about any Falcons last night, but he had more of a tussle stopping himself from being bent backwards when confronting the Hurricanes tight-head prop Neemia Tialata.

That was where the biggest surprise occurred. With world-class props Benn Robinson and Wycliff Palu sidelined, and Palmer trying to work out where he was, the Hurricanes were expected to pulp the Waratahs up front. It didn’t happen.

And that enabled the Waratahs to consolidate their dominance in the second half, scoring two tries soon after the break to earn the bonus point, when Turner and Beale again found and utilised open space.

The last half-hour revolved around playing out time, squeezing the Hurricanes into mistake after mistake and, suddenly, dreaming of home finals.

Written by my favorite reporter