SYDNEY - Wallabies playmaker Berrick Barnes suffered a suspected broken wrist as the NSW Waratahs' Super Rugby woes continued on Friday night.
The Waratahs slumped to a 27-26 loss to their South African bogey side the Cheetahs and Barnes' latest setback only compounded their misery at Allianz Stadium.
Making his first appearance of the season after missing the opening month of the competition with a knee injury, Barnes appeared to get hurt while making a try-saving tackle on giant Cheetahs lock Lodewyk de Jager in the 17th minute.
NSW's defeat was their third straight and the Tahs also take a dubious place in the Super Rugby history books as the first team to lose three times in a row to the Cheetahs.
Adding insult to injury, former Waratahs halfback Sarel Pretorius was the architect behind the South Africans' triumph, putting lively winger Raymond Rule over for the match-winning try 10 minutes from fulltime.
A 40th-minute try to centre Adam Ashley-Cooper had given NSW an unlikely 20-17 lead at the break and the Tahs continued to hold sway for most of the second half.
But after dominating possession and territory for the bulk of the match, the Cheetahs eventually broke through to back up their win last week on the road against the Highlanders.