Western Force Win Aussie Grand Slam!

[oxleymoron]

Don't hold much hope for the tahs - they played with 16 men for 70mins and still couldn't get the job done.

[pieter blackie]

Bonus points should be awarded to the Force for putting up with some incredibly dodgy calls and not giving up

I told my wife that who ever has patience and keeps their cool with the ref will win the match and when the tahs started swearing at him I knew we had it in the bag

[Thequeerone]

So apart from the two disallowed tries that we scored, the three missed penalties and the conversion and not counting the 3 soft penalties awarded to the Tahs in the first half - it was a close game

Staniforth MOM

[slomo]

good to catch up with a lot of the twf family tonight at jbs... Great result....but too many decisions went against the force...... Brownie outstanding...
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[Darren]

The Western Force have claimed a third victory over an Australian opponent in 2009 with a 15-14 triumph over the Waratahs in Sydney tonight.

Second half tries to wingers Scott Staniforth, named Man of the Match, and Cameron Shepherd helped the visitors keep their finals hopes alive in yet another tight contest.

It was a dour Australian derby for the majority of the 80 minutes, although both sides had enterprising ambitions that they could not execute for the most part.

The Waratahs opened the scoring with three penalty goals from Flyhalf Daniel Halangahu to lead 9-0 after half an hour. Matt Giteau responded with a penalty of his own five minutes before the break to make the score 9-3.

Will Caldwell was issued with a yellow card for a high tackle moments before half time, but Cameron Shepherd’s attempt to add three points from near half way was unsuccessful.

The Force opened the try scoring ten minutes into the second half when Staniforth crashed over in the corner after some good play from James O’Connor and Shepherd. Giteau’s conversion gave his side a 10-9 lead.

Almost immediately after the resumption, the Waratahs hit back with a try of the own from a barnstorming Caldwell after a clever blindside raid from Lachie Turner. Halangahu couldn’t convert, leaving the ‘Tahs ahead by 14-10.

Staniforth’s try with fifteen minutes remaining changed the lead again, and despite Giteau’s conversion attempt striking the upright the one-point lead proved to be enough.

With Staniforth, Josh Valentine, David Pocock, Drew Mitchell and Nathan Sharpe in fine form, the Force overcame two disallowed tries during the first half to hold on in the dying stages.

The Emirates Western Force will host the Lions at Subiaco Oval next weekend.

By the clock:

17th Min: Penalty Goal to the Waratahs kicked by Daniel Halangahu. Waratahs lead 3-0.

22nd Min: Penalty Goal to the Waratahs kicked by Halangahu. Waratahs lead 6-0.

30th Min: Penalty Goal to the Waratahs kicked by Halangahu. Waratahs lead 9-0.

35th Min: Penalty Goal to the Emirates Western Force kicked by Matt Giteau. Waratahs lead 9-3.

38th Min: Yellow card to Will Caldwell of the Waratahs for a high tackle.

HALF TIME: Emirates Western Force 3 Waratahs 9

50th Min: Try to the Emirates Western Force scored by Cameron Shepherd. Converted by Giteau. Emirates Western Force lead 10-9.

53rd Min: Try to the Waratahs scored by Will Caldwell. Not converted by Halangahu. Waratahs lead 14-10.

66th Min: Try to the Emirates Western Forced scored by Cameron Shepherd. Not converted by Giteau. Emirates Western Force lead 15-14.

FULL TIME: Emirates Western Force 15 Waratahs 14

Emirates Western Force 15 (Staniforth, Shepherd tries; Giteau con, pen)

Waratahs 14 (Caldwell try; Halangahu 3 pens)

Replacements –

49th Min: Tamaiti Horua replaces Richard Brown (Blood)
60th Min: Brown returns from blood bin, replaces Horua
68th Min: Tom Hockings replaces Sam Wykes
79th Min: Tamaiti Horua replaces Richard Brown (Blood)

[es1988]

Man of the Match was Scott Staniforth

[travelling_gerry]

Good food, good wine, good company, good result.

[shasta]

Good food, good wine, good company, good result.

So you gave Burswood a miss after all?

[blueandblack]

Rugby 365 sums it up:

Man of the Match: Phil Waugh was brave as usual you got to give points for effort to players like Lote Tuqiri and Brett Sheehan. For the Western Force captain Nathan Sharpe put his hand up again, Matt Giteau was very lively, while wings Scott Staniforth and Cameron Shepherd were also full of running. But this was a win earned by a great team effort and we have 22 Men of the match - the entire Force team

More

so....exciting, determined TEAM rugby from the and boring kicking rubbish from tahds? Completely no surprise.

---------- Post added at 22:48 ---------- Previous post was at 22:17 ----------

Amusing to view the 6 pics in the rugbyhell story "force pip the tahs".
Pic 1: Valentine getting medical attention and lying on the ground.
Pics 2-5: Tahs with possession.
Pic 6: Drew being tackled around the legs.

WE WON, RH!

[robyn <3]

Waugh should have been carded. I was tearing my hair out at some of the crap the ref wasn't calling about him! Pocock seemed quiet tonight. The loose forwards thing was unfair overall as the tahs seemed to do no wrong in the ref eyes. Brownie's ear nearly came off! He was pretty good, Palu was quiet. Hodgsen played well I don't even know who their other flanker was! I think Brownie has his hands all over that Gold number 8 jersey!

Pic 6: Drew being tackled around the legs.

Hehehe

[palitu]

i thought palu played quite well... though, i was disgusted at the refs reffing for the break down. i think that kept pocock out of the game as every time he was in the breakdown, free kick.

should have been a bonus point there for us!

[beige]

my blood pressure's gonna be down for the rest of the season

[Flamethrower]

Force beat the Tahs and the Dockers got flogged.




A fantastic Saturday night

[no.8]

Don't hold much hope for the tahs - they played with 16 men for 70mins and still couldn't get the job done.

Has Drew Mitchell signed up for them already?

[Cookie]

The reds were just as bad as the tahs,so why would JOC Brownie or drew want to play for either of these teams.It wouldnt surprise me if waugh heads overseas after this season,he sounded very frustarted after the game.