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The Emirates Western Force produced their best performance of the 2012 season and rewarded their loyal fans in Perth as they plundered five tries to dispatch reigning FxPro Super Rugby champions Queensland 45-19 on Saturday night.
The win came on the back of a total domination at the breakdown and a sublime effort from the club’s playmakers in what was a complete team performance that has kick started a four match run at home in style.
What a difference a week made for the club who found themselves with a 21-0 advantage late in the opening half thanks to tries from James Stannard and Nathan Sharpe as well as an on song David Harvey who nailed three penalties and a conversion.
Brought into the centres by Coach Richard Graham, Nick Cummins helped get things started as he put Stannard through while Sharpe’s try came from a deliberate and patient build-up before the former skipper barrelled his way over from close range.
Graham said the opening exchanges had been a focus for the club throughout the week in a bid to deny the Reds any opportunities to build their confidence following a tough of the Republic.
“We went into the game wanting to start really well. The Reds were coming back from South Africa and following two successive losses, the first time that has happened in two years for them, it was important we challenged their mindset,” said Graham.
“I thought the way that the boys started was indicative of the way they prepared during the week and ultimately it’s about transferring what you do at training through to performance.”
The first half didn’t pass without some anxious moments for the home side, the most unnerving coming in the 15th minute when Stannard hobbled off the ground.
To their credit the Emirates Western Force didn’t let the loss of their chief playmaker disrupt their momentum, and with veteran halfback Brett Sheehan providing a cool head replacement flyhalf Ben Seymour slotted in seamlessly and clearly relished his chance to shine.
While the West Australian side had the better of the opening 40 minutes the Reds did manage to get a sniff late in the period when they scored a try after the buzzer to go into the main break trailing by a not insurmountable 16 points.
The job however was made all that tougher when just five minutes after the restart Sheehan charged down a kick from Reds’ flyhalf Dallan Murphy and off-loaded to Seymour who turned on the jets and powered past some hapless defence for his first FxPro Super Rugby try.
While Van Humphries responded for the visitors a short time later, any thoughts of a fight back were extinguished when Samu Wara and Matt Hodgson added a fourth and fifth try for the Emirates Western Force.
Again Seymour found himself in the thick of the action as he placed a perfectly weighted kick through the Reds defence where Wara was on hand to accept the kind bounce and outpace a chasing pack to score.
Hodgson’s try six minutes from the end put the exclamation mark on a wonderful night for the club and their home supporters.
Cummins, who was one of the standouts for the Emirates Western Force playing in the 13 jersey, made a superb run to put the West Aussies deep into attack and following some quick ball movement the Reds were stretched thin and Hodson found himself all alone out wide and didn’t need a second invitation to cross for the five pointer.
Harvey nailed all three conversions in the second half as well as another penalty goal to take his personal tally to 20 points in another strong display.
While the Reds did manage a consolation try after the full time buzzer nothing could take away from the convincing team performance by the Emirates Western Force who’ll line-up against the in-form Chiefs at nib Stadium next Friday night.
“I’ve said each week that I thought a lot of components of our game were right and there were just a couple of areas that needed addressing. While that was our best performance of the season we still know there is a lot of improvement in us and will continue to work hard to achieve that consistency,” Graham said
“Looking back on the game it was really pleasing for a number of reasons. Firstly, the final 20 minutes the boys could really enjoy their football as opposed to battling it out in a close game. The second thing, it was great to win at home. It has been a long time coming a win like that in front of everyone who fronts up week in and week out to watch us and that was fantastic. And finally I’m just pleased for the group - they work hard. The stuff you do behind the scenes no one really sees and I think it was just reward for them.”
2012 FxPro Super Rugby – Week 6
Saturday, 31 March 2012 at nib Stadium
Kick-off: 6.40pm (AWST)
Western Force 45 (Tries: J. Stannard, N Sharpe, B. Seymour, S Wara, M. Hodgson; Con: D Harvey 4/5, Pen: D Harvey 4/4)
Reds 19 (Tries: J. Slipper, V Humphries, D. Shipperley; Con: D Murphy 2/3
Emirates Western Force: 1.Pek Cowan, 2.Nathan Charles, 3.Salesi Ma’afu, 4.Toby Lynn, 5.Nathan Sharpe, 6.Richard Brown, 7.David Pocock (Captain), 8.Matt Hodgson, 9.Brett Sheehan, 10.James Stannard, 11.Alfie Mafi, 12.Winston Stanley, 13.Nick Cummins, 14.Samu Wara, 15.David Harvey; Reserves: 16.Elvis Taione, 17.Kieran Longbottom, 18.Phoenix Battye, 19.Ben McCalman, 20.Ben Seymour, 21.Rory Sidey, 22.Kyle Godwin
Queensland Reds: 1.Ben Daley, 2.James Hanson, 3.James Slipper, 4.Van Humphries, 5.James Horwill (Captain), 6.Scott Higginbotham, 7.Liam Gill, 8.Jake Schatz, 9.Will Genia, 10.Dallan Murphy, 11.Luke Morahan, 12.Ben Tapuai, 13.Joel Rapana, 14.Dom Shipperley, 15.Rod Davies; Reserves: 16.Albert Anae, 17.Greg Holmes, 18.Rob Simmons, 19.Eddie Quirk, 20.Beau Robinson, 21.Nick Frisby, 22.Nathan Eyres-Brown
Yellow Cards: nil
Red Cards: nil
Referee: Garratt Williamson
Crowd: 13,034
Milestones: Kyle Godwin – Emirates Western Force & FxPro Super Rugby debut
By the clock
Min Western Force Score
3 David Harvey Penalty Goal 3 - 0
8 James Stannard Try 8 - 0
9 David Harvey Missed Con 8 - 0
17 David Harvey Penalty Goal 11 - 0
19 David Harvey Penalty Goal 14 - 0
32 Nathan Sharpe Try 19 - 0
34 David Harvey Conversion 21 - 0
40 James Slipper Try 21 - 5
40 Dallan Murphy Missed Con 21 - 5
44 Ben Seymour Try 26 - 5
45 David Harvey Conversion 28 - 5
51 Van Humphries Try 28 - 10
52 Dallan Murphy Conversion 28 - 12
68 David Harvey Penalty Goal 31 - 12
70 Samu Wara Try 36 - 12
70 David Harvey Conversion 38 - 12
74 Matt Hodgson Try 43 - 12
75 David Harvey Conversion 45 - 12
80 Dom Shipperley Try 45 - 17
80 Dallan Murphy Conversion 45 - 19