Inside the Waratahs' Great Escape and the costly Crusaders ...

The NSW Waratahs are on cloud nine after a thrilling 43-40 extra time win over the Crusaders, with Will Harrison the hero.

Waratahs coach Darren Coleman has been left crushed on several occasions in 2024 as his side loses the tight ones.

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Instead, the Waratahs held tough and showed great resolve to close out a game amid a series of Crusaders' mistakes.

With two minutes remaining, the game seemed decided when Christian-Lio Willie crossed at the back of the scrum to give the Crusaders a one-point lead.

The try was awarded with exactly 90 seconds to go, which meant Crusaders' flyhalf Rivez Reihana could've wasted the entire clock and the visitors' win was sealed.

However, Coleman revealed there was exactly one second left as Reihana struck the ball sweetly through the uprights.

“First I was hopeful he didn’t get it down,” Coleman said after the game.

“We could hear the refs say, ‘you’ll get the kick-off’. Then the ref or the TMO changed that and said they could wind the clock down.

"It went from disappointment because I thought we wouldn’t get to kick-off and then the Crusaders guy kicked it with a second to go so then I was back up to being hopeful.

"It was an emotional roller coaster.”

Harrison's restart then caused the mistake from the Crusaders, eventually winning a penalty after a knock down from Johnny McNicholl was called deliberate, rather than a knock-on which would've ended the game.

"It's footy. Referees make the call. I thought Nic (Berry, referee) had a good night," Crusaders coach Rob Penney said on the call.

Harrison has full faith in his ability to nail kicks from anywhere inside opposition half and showed his calmness to send the game into extra-time.

"You spend so much time as a young fella, down the park, dreaming of those moments," Harrison said.

"To get one and put us in the game, to send it to golden point, was special."

From there, the Waratahs had a clear plan to play for territory with the Crusaders down to 14.

Harrison kept kicking for the corner and drew the mistake when the lineout call went awry for the visitors, spilling the ball to the Waratahs inside the 22.

From here, Harrison had to marshall his troops to the correct side, who were setting up for a right-footer taking the drop goal attempt.

They eventually got into position for Harrison to nail the attempt, which he revealed was essentially a free shot as the replays showed Nic Berry's arm out for advantage.

"There was a bit of confusion, 'Granty' (Jack Grant) was going left post but for a left-footer, I wanted to be at the right post

"We had to stay calm and just work around it but apparently we had an advantage so it was a free shot anyway.

"That was my first 'droppy' so it's pretty special to do it against the Crusaders."

It leaves the Crusaders with just one win from their season and coach Penney to reflect on what could've been,

"Yeah there's some things you can only learn by going through them," he said.

"...People have to learn by being exposed and it was a different situation tonight.

"You have your discussions around what it looks like when you're in situations like extra time but it's really living that moment when reality hits."