NSW captain Emily Chancellor says the Super Rugby Women's level of competition is what the Waratahs have always wanted even after suffering a season-opening 23-17 loss to the Fijian Drua.
The Drua's physical and fast-paced tempo proved too strong for a scrappy Waratahs outfit in a rematch of last year's final on Friday night.
NSW ran in three tries to two at Allianz Stadium through winger Maya Stewart, prop Bridie O'Gorman and centre Georgina Friedrichs.
But that wasn't enough to match tries to Drua centre Vitalina Naikore and winger Josivini Naihamu plus two conversions and three penalty goals from fullback Luisa Tisolo.
But Chancellor is taking the positives from only the fourth loss in the defending champions' seven-season history.
"This season is going to be a tough one, and that's exactly what we want," she said.
"We want better competition and we've got it. So we need to step up and play the rugby that we've played in the pre-season.
"We didn't meet the (Drua) in the beginning and we made it really hard for ourselves to get into the game."
The sultry starting temperature inside Allianz Stadium mirrored the Drua's fiery opening play as it took only eight seconds for the Fijians to draw first blood.
Naikore captalised off a bouncing kick-off, before she soccered the ball into the in-goal and planted it.
Twelve minutes later, the Waratahs spread the ball down the left side of the Drua's defence where leading Wallaroos' try-scorer Stewart cut inside and strolled over the line.
The Drua looked to take a stronger foothold in the game and were rewarded when Naihamu tore through the Waratahs centre to score.
Three minutes into the second half, NSW cut the deficit to 10 points when Bridie O'Gorman scooped the ball and darted towards the right corner before scoring.
The Drua tightened their grip on their 20-10 advantage, restricting the Waratahs in their half as mistakes began to plague their attacking momentum.
As fulltime beckoned, the Drua continued to hold on to the ball, and were rewarded as the frustrated Waratahs conceded their third penalty goal.
The Waratahs were able to finish the game with a try when Friedrichs steamrolled through a post-scrum gap to reduce the losing margin to six points.
