The revival of the New South Wales Waratahs may yet be another false dawn for the Sydney Super Rugby side, but Thursday night's home match again showed a code-hopper should be a star this season and the Tahs could finally be shaping as a genuine title threat once again.
The Waratahs turned down nine shots at goal at Allianz Stadium and ended up losing by just two points to the Crusaders, the visitors running out 16-14 victors.
But new recruit Israel Folau turned in another man of the match performance and looks a genuine test threat for the Wallabies this season, while the loss means nothing as new Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has a pre-season policy of not kicking for penalties as he fine-tunes his attack.
Folau looked at home at fullback in his third code after stints with rugby league and Australian Rules, and the Waratahs outscored the Crusaders by two tries to one.
The home side were 13-0 behind at half-time but stormed back in the second half.
