A double shot of Wendell Sailor was enough to give the NSW Waratahs a hard-fought 32-7 win over the Western Force - but Australia's newest Super 14 team showed they deserved to be on the pitch against the country's best.

On his return to the side following a three-game ban for drunken indiscretions in South Africa, Sailor crossed in either half to break the hugely impressive defensive resistance of John Mitchell's men.

But the home side's lack of attacking options was again too much to overcome, with Sailor's double bookended by tries to locks Al Kanaar and Will Caldwell to secure the Tah's bonus point.

Winger Haig Sare scored the Force's only points.

After a week long battle against a virus that caused him to collapse after the Queensland game last week, captain Nathan Sharpe was unable to take his place, handing the rookie with the Irish name, Pat O'Connor, his debut on St Patrick's Day.

Nine players in the competition had an equal or better amount of points than the entire Force franchise before the game, and it was one of those, Peter Hewat, who opened the scoring with a penalty.

After Scott Daruda missed a simple chance to equalise, the young flyhalf was guilty of a much more costly error, delaying a clearing kick long enough to allow Kanaar to charge down and chase the rebound for the night's first try.

Despite a point-a-minute start from the visitors, the Force pack showed their confidence by working a rolling maul within metres of the Tahs' tryline.

But although the forward endeavour and scrambling defence of the home side was commendable, it masked the Waratahs' dominance.

After Sailor elicited the biggest cheer of the night by spilling a high ball, the returning winger had the last laugh of the half, barrelling under the posts for a crucial score.

It appeared the second half would be about the Waratahs' winning margin - but instead the Force defence continued to impress.

Mat Rogers' quiet night was ended when he suffered a broken nose in a head clash with Sare, and it was 30 minutes into the second half before the Waratahs finally breached the defensive wall.

Again it was Sailor who did the damage in the corner, but moments later the 31-year-old was helpless to prevent Sare crossing for a well received try.

As the Force defensive lines tired, it was the unlikely figure of replacement lock Will Caldwell who crashed over to give the Waratahs their expected bonus point.

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