Dramatic win for Waratahs

Replacement lock Sitaleki Timani scored a last-minute try to give the NSW Waratahs a dramatic 29-22 victory over the ACT Brumbies on Saturday.

With a draw looking likely between the two Australian big guns, Timani stretched out one of his long arms to plant the ball over the line after a spell of pressure on the Brumbies line.

A tough encounter saw just three tries scored, Brumbies prop Ben Alexander had scored to level the game after Ryan Cross had crossed for the Waratahs.

Full-back Kurtley Beale kicked five penalties and two conversions for a 19-point haul that helped the Waratahs get over the disappointment of their loss against the struggling Cheetahs last week.

The Brumbies slumped to their fourth defeat on the spin, and their third since the sacking of head coach Andy Friend.

A dour first half saw a heavyweight forwards battle take place, with the only scoring coming from the boots of Beale and Matt Giteau - who kicked a late penalty to make it 12-12.

Tahs centre Tom Carter was yellow carded for slowing the ball down and Giteau kicked a penalty to put the Brumbies in front.

However, the 14-man Waratahs scored the first try of the match when a strange kick from Beale landed in space and Cross scooped up the ball to score -with Beale adding a good conversion from out wide.

Beale was at fault for the Brumbies' try though, as his kick was charged down by Giteau to allow Alexander to go over five minutes from time with the scores now level at 22-22.

The Waratahs had a try ruled out when TV replays showed Atieli Pakalani had dropped the ball over the line, but after winning the scrum and piling on nine phases of pressure, Timani scrambled over for the winning try.

"It was a pretty tough week after last week's performance and to put ourselves into a position to win that game and come back right at the death was a big effort from the guys," Waratahs captain Phil Waugh said.

"It was a really spirited effort and we should be very pleased with that."