The NSW Waratahs have held on for a scrappy but much-needed 23-19 Super 14 victory over the Cheetahs at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Led by an inspired performance from flanker Rocky Elsom, the Waratahs rebounded from their 34-7 defeat at the hands of the Crusaders to notch their fourth win from six games this campaign.

Victory lifted the Waratahs above the Brumbies into sixth place on the ladder and they will have the opportunity to crack the top four in the coming fortnight when they tackle the fourth-placed Western Force in Perth and the third-placed Blues in Sydney.

The Waratahs did the damage in the first half, going to the break with a 20-7 advantage, but had to hang on in the final 10 minutes after falling back into old bad habits in the second half.

Coach Ewen McKenzie entered the match with his position under intense scrutiny, with critics questioning his team's apparent lack of enterprise following an indifferent start to the season.

But the win would have done little to ease the pressure on McKenzie given the Cheetahs haven't won a game all season and outscored the home side three tries to two.

The Waratahs seemed determined to put on a stylish performance, at least to begin with, producing a razzle-dazzle first half of rugby.

But they retreated into their shells after the interval and would have been relieved to have avoided what would have been a disastrous defeat against the South Africans.

The `Tahs made a promising enough start, chancing their arm and going within inches of scoring in the opening minute.

Virtually from the kick-off, they spread the ball wide inside their own quarter and skilfully advanced play deep inside Cheetahs territory, where five-eighth Kurtley Beale was able to regather his own chip kick and set sail for the line.

But as he lunged to plant the ball for a try, he lost possession.

They needed a penalty goal from Beale in the 17th minute - following a high tackle on prop Benn Robinson - to open their account.

The Waratahs finally posted their first try in the 22nd minute when Lachie Turner showcased his blistering speed down the left wing.

NSW skipper Phil Waugh cagily intercepted a pass from Cheetahs five-eighth Jacques-Louis Potgieter and quickly shuffled the ball on to Turner, who put on the afterburners to touch down under the posts.

Beale's conversion made it 10-0 but the Cheetahs struck back with a try in the corner to lock David de Villiers, which centre Meyer Bosman converted from the sideline.

Elsom restored the Waratahs' 10-point lead with a powerful 20-metre burst to cross on the half hour and Beale's conversion and a second penalty in the 37th minute had the home team in control at the break.

But as the Waratahs reverted to safety-first football, the Cheetahs threatened a boilover in the second half when winger Jongi Nokwe and replacement forward Flip Van Der Merwe scored in the 53rd and 70th minutes to set up a tense finale.

Beale posted the final points with a third penalty four minutes from time.

McKenzie admitted his team may have fallen into the trap of trying too hard to silence the doubters, but he was nevertheless satisfied with the win.

"We tried to go out there and play with intent. That's what everyone's been telling us we have to try to do, so we tried to do that," he said.

"We came up with some errors. That's going to happen, but we'll be better for the run. We'll be better in terms of our overall play down the track.

"We tried to express ourselves. It wasn't without fault. But, if we can develop our ability to play the game in different ways, we'll be better for it.

"So, at the moment, we'll just move on."

McKenzie said the Cheetahs, who have lost four of their six games this season by six points or less, should not be under-estimated.

"I think somewhere along the lines someone created the expectation that we were going to beat the Cheetahs by 50 points," he said.

"I'm not quite sure where that came from. It didn't come from me.

"If you actually look at their form line, they did what they do best - they hung in there for 80 minutes and played well.

"So I'm not going to sit here and pretend that the Cheetahs didn't do a good job. They did a good job, keeping the pressure on us and forcing us into errors.

"The errors weren't us making errors. You've got to give them credit."

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