Rugby's season was on the line on Saturday, according to Jordan Moran, making their thrilling nine-run win over Macquarie all the more satisfying.

The defending premiers had not won in the Whitney Cup since November and had slipped outside the top three but the win over the Blues at No. 1 Oval has them right in the hunt for a finals spot again.

"It was basically our grand final, our season was gone if we didn't win," Moran said.

"We know now we've got a hard run home with Newtown, Souths and Colts so it's not going to be easy but we've just got to get that self belief back."

Macquarie won the toss on Saturday and elected to bowl, despite the No. 1 pitch being covered following Friday night's rain.

The decision seemed to pay off when Rugby were 3-30 with Harry Kempston, Mitch Bower and Jacob Hill all back in the sheds but Nathan Munro set about getting the innings back on track.

Munro combined with Moran for a valuable 71-run partnership as Rugby began to gain the upperhand but after Moran, still battling a back injury, departed there was a strong of wickets.

Munro passed his half century and made a well-compiled 60 and Moran said it was a quality innings in the circumstances.

"No one could go on with it, there was a few soft dismissals but Nath batted really well and I was batting through a bit of discomfort but I can't take anything away from Nath," he said.

"We were cruising at one stage with the bat when Nath and I were there but then we lost four or five wickets in the powerplay."

Sidhu Shaik and captain Keiran Brien both took three wickets for the Blues.

Macquarie began the run chase well and took the score to 30 before Ben Patterson picked up the key wicket of Ed Haylock for 19.

At 3-57 the run chase was in the balance but Shaik came to the crease and smashed his way to 49, adding 48 runs for the fourth wicket with Brien in the process.

But Rugby had kept left-arm quick Ben Taylor up their sleeve and he made a big impact when he was thrown the ball, picking up the key wickets of Jason Green and Justin Gavin as the rain began to fall.

"They (Macquarie) were a bit the same as us too, they were in trouble early but consolidated and got themselves back on track and then the rain came down and changed things," Moran said, before speaking about the ploy to save Taylor.

"I had a bit of a chat to him and told him he was not going to bowl until the last eight overs from one end or until 'Greeny' and 'Gavo' were in. He tied them up well and got it to move a little bit and Mitch (Bower) bowled his spin really well too."

Moran then came on and picked up the final two wickets to give Rugby the win and leave them less than a point behind third-placed Macquarie.