NSW Waratahs were left with plenty of soul-searching to do after being held scoreless for the first time in their Super Rugby history, losing 29-0 at home to top South African side the Lions.
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The Lions scored four tries and notched their first win in Sydney, dominating proceedings after the Waratahs failed to convert some early chances.
"It's burning, you've got to take those opportunities," Waratahs captain and flanker Michael Hooper said when asked about his team's failure to score.
The Waratahs went into Friday's Allianz Stadium clash on the back of four straight wins against their Australian conference rivals, but found the Lions a much tougher proposition.
"I know there's a lot of soul-searching going on in our changing room and it's good for us," Tahs coach Daryl Gibson said.
'We've had a decent run, we've come up well short tonight, but that's part of the journey that we're on and we've got to learn from that and get better from it."
NSW will lose top spot in the Australian conference if the Melbourne Rebels beat the Bulls in Pretoria later in the round.
Coming off a bye, the Lions' policy to fly into Australia a week later than usual paid off handsomely.
"The guys did play well tonight, but all credit to the team doctor and the decisions to fly in late and manage the time zones," Lions' coach Swys de Bruin said.
While the Lions weren't at their fluent best in a scrappy first half, in-form winger Madosh Tambwe crossed to set up a 7-0 halftime lead.
The visitors effectively clinched the contest with two tries in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
They looked to have got a little bit of luck when former sevens star and flanker Kwagga Smith was awarded a try despite replays showing he dropped the ball over the line.
Soon after, centre Harold Vorster sliced through some ordinary defence and replacement Marnus Sheman bumped off some more lacklustre Waratahs for the final try towards the end.
Waratahs winger Taqele Naiyaravoro, who had scored seven tries in the past four games, spent a lot of time trying to make ground up the middle rather than out wide and was well contained.
"We tried tonight to use him at close quarters and he was less effective than he has been in the last few games," Gibson admitted.
He said star back Israel Folau was a good chance of returning from his hamstring injury after next week's bye.
Australian Associated Press
