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Balanced up by the try awarded to I think McIntyre which was an on field no try. I didn't see the ball touching the grass in the replay even though it was highly likely that it did.
Thrush's try, the ball clearly went forward off the hand that was on the ground, however that wasn't thrush's hand it was somebody pinned in the ruck, both teams had hands on the ball at that time and there was no telling which team the hand belonged to.
However I'll happily take one harsh one vs one easy one. There were things the ref missed on both sides of the ball which could be pointed to, however it was a pretty fair game by the officials. it included the first video review I've watched this season and called correctly (dump tackle for Yellow) so I won't be complaining about the refs.
Actually considering that, I assume the judiciary will look at the dump tackle and call it within the red card threshold and ping the guy for three weeks.
C'mon the![]()
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Mixed bag of a game, but great to get a win after a very long dry spell.
Discipline was very lacking again and a team with a better set piece would've made us pay much more dearly.
My player ratings:
Robertson: 6. Solid enough, but hasn't recaptured his form of last year
Ready: 8. Has really pulled his head in in recent weeks, not giving away stupid penalties, and was very good at set piece. Maybe worth keeping after all...?
Medrano: 7. Improved performance, although still gave away a couple of penalties at scrum time from memory. Lovely pass for Anstee's break.
Mccauley: 8. Very good all round performance. Needs to produce this consistently
Thrush: 7. Helped provide an excellent set piece platform
FLW: 8. Usual very solid performance. Was a tackling machine, including a few very important line break savers.
Anstee: 6. A bit of a mixed bag, giving away a few soft penalties, but doing some good things in attack and defence.
Pugh: 6. Solid performance from a rookie playing out of position. Needs to see more game time at lock, or maybe 6 in the mould of FLW next year.
Prior: 8. Provided decent service most of the night, including a cracker of a cut out pass that lead to a try. Also salvaged a try from McIntyre being held up over the line.
Pasitoa: 8. Exactly what we're looking for from him at 10. Created opportunities, attacked the line and kicked well. Would like to see him kicking for touch as well with the distance on his boot.
Mataele: 7. Struggled to get into the game and find penetration, right up until the final moments when he got us the bonus point
Kahui: 9. The guy is pure class. Clearly should've been starting in the centres all year. Marked off 1 point for missing touch (only just) at the back end of the game which was almost very costly, but at least he was actually going for some distance.
Ralston: 8. Had a surprisingly good game at 13. Maybe that's where he should've been playing all along.
Pulu: 7. Finished well, but probably not involved as much as we would've liked.
McIntyre: 7. Was also surprisingly decent at 15. No mistakes under the high ball, good tactical kicking and was following up well in the right positions to finish a couple of tries.
Kaitu'u: 4. Is he suffering from long covid or something? No real impact and behind Ready on current form. I think a new captain is required next year, who is good at getting in the ref's ear. Rodda or Koteka?
Wagner: 3. Very poor discipline for the second game in a row off the bench. Needs a rocket
Abra: 6. Solid again. Deserves a start over Medrano
Rodda: 5. Solid, but for some reason we stopped contesting their lineouts after he came on, even though we were stealing most of them before
Winchester: N/A. Not sure he came on?
MacDonald: 6. Improved the speed of our attack and should've been brought on earlier. Would like to see him start on Saturday. Plenty of upside.
Godwin: 6. Presented well for the last try, but not involved much besides that.
Lacey: 4. Shot out of the line to leave a huge hole in defence out wife that could've been costly. Did chase back to cover his mistake though. Worth persisting with based on recent performances.
Defense: 3. Need to revert back to whatever we were doing last year. Still way too easy for teams to score against us.
Attack: 6. Definitely an improvement on recent weeks, helped by our forwards setting a good platform.
Lineout: 7. Excellent on opposition throw, although not sure why we stopped contesting in the last quarter. Need more variety on our throws, as a few were almost picked off. From memory, Anstee, FLW and Pugh unused for some reason?
Scrum: 6. Still not convincing, given the quality we've got on paper.
Nick Taylor in The West:
Western Force keep Super Rugby Pacific quarterfinal hopes alive with bonus-point win over Moana Pasifika
Western Force are daring to dream of an unlikely Super Rugby Pacific finals appearance after their 48-28 bonus-point win over Moana Pasifika in Auckland on Tuesday night.
The result sent them into ninth spot, three points behind the Highlanders, heading into a must-win clash with the Hurricanes at HBF Park on Saturday.
They must then hope the Rebels send the Highlanders home from Melbourne on Sunday without a point.
The Force scored seven tries to Moana’s four but made getting the bonus point difficult for themselves.
Twice they were three tries ahead for the crucial point, twice they let it slip, before centre Kyle Godwin went over with two minutes remaining.
The Force were desperate for victory to end their three-game tour of New Zealand.
It came three days after they were crushed 54-21 by the Chiefs, their third big loss in a row after the 53-15 and 61-10 defeats by the Crusaders and Highlanders.
Coach Tim Sampson had demanded patience from his side to build a first-half platform before opening up for a bonus point.
It almost didn’t go to plan as they scrapped to a 19-14 lead at the break.
Match captain Ian Prior said it was the result they had been searching for.
“It’s no secret it’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Prior said.
“We haven’t been happy with our performances.
“We talked about responding on a short turnaround.
“It was a really physical game, and I’m immensely proud of our guys for coming up today.”
The Force fly home on Wednesday before Saturday’s clash.
“About the only thing we can do now is recover,” Prior said.
The fans have stuck with us through and through the last few years.
“We want to make our families and fans proud and give ourselves the best chance possible to try and sneak into the finals.”
The Force varied their backline attack and when they got it right their defence was excellent. When they go it wrong they left gaping holes for Moana runners to exploit.
When Force runners broke the line they were often isolated, leading to penalties and unforced errors.
The Force dominated the set-piece, particularly the line-out, to set up the win.
They scored three first-half tries from hooker Andrew Ready, full-back Jake McIntyre and centre Byron Ralston. Moana winger Tima Fainga’anuku grabbed a double.
Force winger Toni Pulu crossed in the corner after the break before Ezekiel Lindenmuth barrelled over for the home side.
Scrum-half Prior added to his four conversions with a penalty, McIntyre scored a second and local WA product Jackson Pugh scored his first Super try.
Again Moana hit back through Tau Koloamatangi before Godwin sealed the bonus point.
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Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
If they play on Saturday with that defensive effort then I'm glad I'll be at home with the fridge a few seconds away. I'm with chiraag on that point.
Yes easily McCauley's best game he has ever played for us. I was gettign worried that he was just good tall timber in the lineout and offered nothing around the ground but yesterday his lineout work was outstanding but also much better in general play, hopefully that gives him the confidence to go on with it.
I thought Anstee was better than you suggest, he has sensational acceleration for a big man which helped with an important try saver.
Prior was good in patches but still should have been pulled earlier. We also made some questionable decisions. Going for goal when we were chasing bonus point. Taking scrums when we should have just taken quick taps as time was running out. Mcintyre kicked for touch all game and did ok and then all of a sudden we swap to Kahui who kicks to the far side of the ground and doesn't kick it out.
Yeah, I have high expectations from Anstee, so probably marked a little harshly. Gave away at least 2 soft penalties though, and I expect/want him to be a more dominant carrier than he's been this season with the extra bulk he's put on. Really thought he might be pushing his claim for higher honours this year as we need a backrower who's a real lineout target, but hasn't got close unfortunately
Honestly, Anstee is unlikely to ever be an Ardie Savea run over people kind of player, he's more likely to remain elusive and fast I love what he brings to the game, but he's not your traditional tackle busting number 8 type. He does make up for it by being smart and lightning fast. check out the pressure he puts on every restart, he's caught several in the last few games and if he doesn't get there to catch it he's there well in time to pressure the opposition catcher.
C'mon the![]()
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Same line up as Tuesday:
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Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
Actually, they might not have any choices
Pugh, Anstee, Ralston, Kahui, McIntyre playing out of position means they might have no 7s, no centres, and no fullbacks
C'mon the![]()
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This is exactly why Anstee was such a great pick when he joined us. He wasn’t told to fit into a certain mold and brought his seven skills to a part of the 15’s field you don’t often see. I think at 6 he was doing really well as that hard running, quick, line breaking forward.