Tiny Tim Donnelly tightened his grip on the NSW five-eighth jersey as he steered the rampant Waratahs to a 48-14 win over the Sharks to maintain their unbeaten start to the Super 12.

On the back of their second win from as many games, NSW joined Australian counterparts ACT at the top of the table after the Brumbies ran riot over the Cats 68-28 in Canberra on Friday night.

The 170cm Donnelly played well above his weight to score a try and have a hand in two others in a man of the match performance in the Waratahs' first game at Aussie Stadium this season.

Donnelly had been duelling with incumbent Shaun Berne and Wallaby veteran Matt Burke, who is returning from injury, to fill the troublesome position but proved he will be difficult to dislodge.

"There was extreme pressure on him at times and I thought he handled that well," said NSW coach Ewen McKenzie.

"He kept mixing his game up which is probably the pleasing thing, he didn't go into his shell, he kept trying things.

"He was particularly solid in the first 30 minutes when we played a field position game but then he certainly wasn't afraid to take the ball to the line."

While the Waratahs weren't able to conjure any of the magic from their opening round win over the Crusaders, when Donnelly was a star performer on debut, they were never troubled by the disappointing Durban-based outfit.

They withstood the physical in-your-face playing style characteristic of South African teams, and starved the Sharks of possession to chalk up a solid win.

"It was a weird game, we couldn't get any momentum and just had to grind away," said NSW skipper Chris Whitaker.

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