# 2015 New South Wales Waratahs season

The 2015 New South Wales Waratahs season was the club's 19th season since the inception of Super Rugby in 1996.

## Players
### Squad

The squad for the 2015 Super Rugby season
(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped.

### Transfers

| Player | Position | Previous Club | Notes |
| Dave Porecki | Hooker | North Harbour Rays | Short-term contract |
| Sam Lousi | Lock | New Zealand Warriors (NRL) | |
| Dean Mumm | Lock | Exeter Chiefs | Short-term contract |
| Jack Dempsey | Flanker | North Harbour Rays | Short-term contract |
| Auvasa Faleali'i | Scrum half | Greater Sydney Rams | |
| David Horwitz | Fly Half | Extended playing squad | |
| Andrew Kellaway | Winger | NSW Country Eagles | |
| Player | Position | Previous Club |
| Kane Douglas | Lock | Leinster |
| Michael Hodge | Centre | Sydney Stars |
| Alofa Alofa | Winger | La Rochelle |
| Cam Crawford | Fullback | Rebels |

## Quick Summary

| Rd | Date and local time | | Opponent | Score | Venue | Attendance | Ref |
| 1 | Sunday, 15 February (4:05 pm) | H | Western Force | 13–25 | Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia | 20,271 | |
| 2 | Friday, 20 February (7:40 pm) | A | Melbourne Rebels | 28–38 | AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia | 12,178 | |
| 3 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 4 | Saturday, 7 March (6:40 pm) | A | Queensland Reds | 5–23 | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia | 27,199 | |
| 5 | Saturday, 14 March (7:35 pm) | A | Highlanders | 26–19 | Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand | | |
| 6 | Sunday, 22 March (4:05 pm) | H | Brumbies | 28–13 | Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia | 27,243 | |
| 7 | Saturday, 28 March (7:40 pm) | H | Blues | 23–11 | Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia | 16,342 | |
| 8 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 9 | Saturday, 11 April (7:40 pm) | H | Stormers | 18–32 | Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia | 17,353 | |
| 10 | Saturday, 18 April (4:30 pm) | A | Hurricanes | 24–29 | Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand | 15,327 | |
| 11 | Saturday, 25 April (7:55 pm) | H | Rebels | 18–16 | ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia | 15,807 | |
| 12 | Friday, 1 May (7:40 pm) | A | Brumbies | 10–13 | Canberra Stadium, Canberra, Australia | 17,563 | |
| 13 | Saturday, 9 May (7:40 pm) | A | Force | 18–11 | nib Stadium, Perth, Australia | 10,115 | |
| 14 | Saturday, 16 May (7:40 pm) | H | Sharks | 33–18 | Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia | 18,578 | |
| 15 | Saturday, 16 May (7:40 pm) | H | Crusaders | 32–22 | ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia | 26,971 | |
| 16 | Saturday, 30 May (7:10 pm) | A | Lions, South Africa | 27–22 | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg | 28,475 | |
| 17 | Saturday, 6 June (3:00 pm) | A | Cheetahs | 33–58 | Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa | | |
| 18 | Saturday, 13 June (7:40 pm) | H | Reds | 31–5 | Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia | 26,746 | |
| SF | 26–27 June | H | Highlanders | 17-35 | Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia | | |

## Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Hurricanes | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 458 | 288 | +170 | 58 | 31 | 9 | 1 | 66 | Qualified to the Semi-finals with home advantage. |
| 2 | Waratahs | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 409 | 313 | +96 | 50 | 41 | 5 | 3 | 52 | Qualified to the Semi-finals with home advantage. |
| 3 | Stormers | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 373 | 323 | +50 | 32 | 35 | 2 | 1 | 45 | Qualified to the Qualifying final with home advantage. |
| 4 | Highlanders | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 450 | 333 | +117 | 54 | 40 | 6 | 3 | 53 | Qualified to the Qualifying final with home advantage. |
| 5 | Chiefs | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 372 | 299 | +73 | 40 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 48 | Qualified to the Qualifying final. |
| 6 | Brumbies | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 369 | 261 | +108 | 45 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 47 | Qualified to the Qualifying final. |
| 7 | Crusaders | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 481 | 338 | +143 | 56 | 39 | 8 | 2 | 46 | |
| 8 | Lions | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 342 | 364 | −22 | 33 | 41 | 2 | 2 | 42 | |
| 9 | Bulls | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 397 | 388 | +9 | 37 | 39 | 4 | 6 | 38 | |
| 10 | Rebels | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 319 | 354 | −35 | 35 | 42 | 3 | 5 | 36 | |
| 11 | Sharks | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 338 | 401 | −63 | 37 | 43 | 3 | 3 | 34 | |
| 12 | Cheetahs | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 357 | 531 | −174 | 44 | 65 | 4 | 2 | 26 | |
| 13 | Reds | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 247 | 434 | −187 | 32 | 53 | 3 | 3 | 22 | |
| 14 | Blues | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 282 | 428 | −146 | 29 | 50 | 2 | 6 | 20 | |
| 15 | Force | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 245 | 384 | −139 | 28 | 43 | 3 | 4 | 19 | |
* Points breakdown: 4 points for a win; 2 points for a draw; 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less; 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match
* Qualification: The top six teams qualified to the finals, with their final positions in the overall log determining their seedings in the finals. The third-placed team (i.e. the conference winners with the worst overall record) hosted the sixth-placed team in the qualifiers, while the fourth-placed team hosted the fifth-placed team. The top two teams (i.e. the two conference winners with the best overall record) qualified directly to the semi-finals, where they had home advantage against the two qualifier winners, with the top team hosting the qualifier winner with the lower seeding and the second-placed team hosting the qualifier winner with the higher seeding. The two semi-final winners progressed to the final, with the team with the higher seeding having home advantage.
Australian Conference :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | Waratahs | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 409 | 313 | +96 | 50 | 41 | 5 | 3 | 52 |
| 2 | Brumbies | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 369 | 261 | +108 | 45 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 47 |
| 3 | Rebels | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 319 | 354 | −35 | 35 | 42 | 3 | 5 | 36 |
| 4 | Reds | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 247 | 434 | −187 | 32 | 53 | 3 | 3 | 22 |
| 5 | Force | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 245 | 384 | −139 | 28 | 43 | 3 | 4 | 19 |

## Detailed season summary
### Finals

As the Waratahs came second on the overall standings, they directly qualified for the semi-finals bypassing the first week of qualifying finals.