After hemoraging points at an alarming rate the weekend before against Yenda, the Waratahs at times showed the kind of form that has seen them on top of the ladder for much of the season.

Waratahs skipper Kodie Charles, who scored the winning try in the final 10 minutes, said the fact their season was on the line was the reason for the dramatic reversal of form within a week.

"The boys knew that is was do-or-die this game, we knew if we lost then we were out and if we won we had one more game," Charles said. "So the boys dug really deep and I think that's the main reason why we got through. "It was a lot better performance than last week, but the thing is we have to play a full 80 minutes, we're still playing in patches and that worries me."

After the Greens jumped out to a handy 12-0 lead the Tigers fought their way back into the game to lead by a try at the break, with Charles putting the slow start down to players wanting to do too much at the wrong time.