New South Wales got their Super 14 rugby campaign off to a successful start with a 25-16 win over the Lions in Johannesburg.

The Waratahs scored three tries to one as they started their campaign to make the finals for a third straight year.

NSW carved out a 15-6 halftime lead following tries to five-eighth Daniel Halangahu and flanker Rocky Elsom.

Halangahu rounded off a good spell of possession by dummying his way past one defender and stretching out to score.

Elsom crashed over a few second before the break, though it appeared referee Chris Pollock may have missed a case of obstruction in the buildup.

The Lions slashed the deficit to two points within 90 seconds of the second half when five-eighth Louis Strydom converted a try by young winger Louis Ludik who beat Lote Tuqiri for pace down the right hand side.

Hewat expanded the lead to five with a 52 metre penalty ten minutes into the half and a few seconds later teenage five-eighth Kurtley Beale made his much anticipated Super debut off the bench.

Beale started with a couple of ordinary passes, but quickly showed glimpses of his rich talent, especially with one speedy dash down the right.

Early in the final quarter Strydom missed one penalty but kicked another to cut the deficit to two.

Lions centre Jaque Fourie was sin binned for a spear tackle on Tuqiri close to the Lions line 15 minutes from the end.

The Waratahs immediately capitalised on their numerical advantage a few seconds later, replacement hooker Adam Freier crashing over from a maul after NSW kicked for touch following the penalty awarded for Fourie's indiscretion.

Hewat's conversion stretched the lead to nine with Strydom missing one more penalty attempt for the home team.

The Lions suffered a blow before the game when their talismanic skipper and five-eighth Andre Pretorius pulled out with an injury.

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