Ugly confrontation has pretty portent

Ugly confrontation has pretty portent
Wayne Smith | April 07, 2008 Ugly confrontation has pretty portent | The Australian

ALL-AUSTRALIAN matches tend to be tight, grafting affairs, which raises the intriguing question of how a Waratahs side virtually under orders to turn on bright, entertaining rugby will cope on Saturday with a Western Force side more than happy to play ugly to win.

Certainly, Force coach John Mitchell will be operating at Subiaco Oval under none of the constraints the NSWRU has imposed on Ewen McKenzie to play attractively, although it could be said that having already announced he will not be coaching the Waratahs next year, officials have lost their leverage over him.

Mitchell was uncertain yesterday what, if any, effect an imposed mind-set would have on the Waratahs, pointing out that with the exception of the Crusaders match, NSW had always attempted to play brightly even before McKenzie was sacked, even if weather conditions did not often make that possible.

"All I know is that I'd rather focus on the process than on the outcome," Mitchell said. "When you're forcing something that hasn't been practised over a period of time, that's when things can come back to bite you on the bum."

Both teams will go into the match on a high, the Waratahs after producing their best performance by far of the season to defeat the Blues, the Force hugely relieved to have laid to rest the Subiaco home-ground hoodoo with a last-gasp try by Ryan Cross to snatch a 15-14 victory over the defending champions, the Bulls, on Friday night.

Barring some extraordinary pyrotechnics from the Brumbies and Reds over the remaining six rounds, the Force and the Tahs are the only Australian sides still in play-offs contention.

While Mitchell refuses to concede that Saturday's outcome will determine which one makes the semi-finals, the climb certainly will be much steeper for the loser.

Last year, of course, there was no loser with the sides finishing at 16-all in Sydney and indications are the Force will have to produce its best form of the season if it is to claim the scalp of one of the four remaining Super 14 teams it is yet to beat.

While the Matt Giteau-Kurtley Beale showdown at five-eighth is likely to grab most of the media focus, the match will feature the last head-to-head battle of the two men who have formed the Wallabies' second row virtually since the 2003 World Cup, Force skipper Nathan Sharpe and Waratahs inspiration Dan Vickerman.

"That's going to be something," Mitchell predicted. "They both love their lineouts, their general play is very good and both lately have been taking a lot more pride in their scrummaging.

"And what makes it so interesting is they are very intelligent footballers who make immense contributions to their sides."

The Force has more selection options open to it than before the Bulls match, with the recovery of Lachlan MacKay from injury allowing it to follow the prevailing trend of having two playmakers in the 10 and 12 positions.

But Mitchell could well be tempted to stick with regular winger Scott Staniforth at inside centre after he proved again on Friday night, as he has done several times for the Wallabies, that a no-frills, hard-running No12 can be every bit as valuable as a creative distributor.

Giteau tends to provide all the flair the Force requires at first receiver although what most stood out against the Bulls was just how tough a scrapper he can be when required.

"Sometimes he's just too brave for his own good and at times I found myself thinking 'get out of there, Gits, that's someone else's tackle'. But that's a reflection of what makes him so good. Every situation on the field is a contest to him," Mitchell said.