“That is a massive blow,if that’s the case,” Waratahs coach Darren Coleman said.
“We are holding out a bit of hope,he’s getting scans. But he felt very similar to when he did it in the England Test. It is horrible news.”
Charlie Gamble makes a break.Credit:Getty
The Brumbies led 15-10 at halftime after an intense opening 40 minutes that saw the visitors take their chances in attack as well as build a strong wall in defence.
A Tom Wright break fed Ryan Lonergan for the opening try but the Waratahs responded via a Ben Donaldson 50-22,that saw Bell charge up the middle after a lineout. He offloaded to Jorgensen,who was swallowed by Alaalatoa and Rob Valetini in front of the posts. Somehow,the 18-year-old bounced out of the contact,fended off Lonergan and dived in for a memorable try on debut.
“I am pretty proud of myself,it’s unreal to put on the sky blue for the first time,” Jorgensen told Stan Sport post-game. “I’m not usually the nervous type of person but today I was pretty nervous.”
Bell was in an imperious mood but when he left the field,the Waratahs pack suddenly looked vulnerable and Souths prop Blake Schoupp started to make his presence felt on debut for the Brumbies,giving Archer Holz trouble time and again.
Angus Bell looked distraught when he came off the field.Credit:Getty
A break by Len Ikitau saw the Brumbies win a penalty on the NSW line,and some quick thinking by Lonergan saw the No.9 kick the ball across field to Andy Muirhead. The winger was initially unaware the ball was heading his way,and was chatting with the touchie but woke up in time to gather the ball and score.
The Brumbies were unlucky to not get another soon after resumption,when Corey Toole got on the outside of Nawaqanitawase on the left edge,bumped through Izzy Perese and gave a backhand assist for Valetini to cross. It deserved a try but replays showed Toole’s boot grazed the sideline.
The Waratahs responded with a second try to Jorgensen after a better roll-on,but the Brumbies returned to Toole’s edge at the first opportunity though and this time he didn’t put a foot wrong when burning Nawaqanitawase on the outside for pace and scoring a sizzling try on debut. The Waratahs wouldn’t give up,though,and an offload from reserve flanker Langi Gleeson saw Foketi feed Gordon for another try in the left-hand corner.
But the Brumbies held firm,and NSW took a three-pointer on the siren to bank a losing bonus point.
“It is just disappointing,” Coleman said.
“We have been targeting one game and working towards one game,in the context of the season it was a big one. It was disappointing because we want to do better. We didn’t play anywhere near our potential and some key facets of the game they got the better of us,they choked us a bit,and pushed us into error.
“We are flat at the moment because we built up this game,we wanted to put on a good show and put on a high quality of footy that will bring people back. I feel like we missed a bit of an opportunity there.
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“The sun will come up tomorrow and we have 13 rounds to go. If there is any positive out of it,I don’t think we are anywhere near our best and we got a bonus point loss against a top four team. I feel we have it in us,we just have to be better.
“We have to take our medicine,eat a bit of humble pie and come back next week.”
On Jorgensen,Coleman said:“He did well. He will go onwards and upwards. I am happy for Max,we always knew he was going to handle it. He will have a good career.”