Good on ya GaffaOriginally Posted by GAFFA
Great game, Fucken battled right through to the 80!
The Western Force has secured its third victory in as many matches following an emphatic 18-15 win over reigning champions, the Chiefs, at the ‘Force Field’ (nib Stadium) tonight.
In front of a heaving 16,380-strong Sea of Blue, tonight marked the first time the Force has recorded three consecutive victories since 2007, with Matt Hodgson leading the way with the first two-try performance of his career in a Haigh & Hastings Man of the Match display.
Despite opposing one of the best attacking units in Asteron Life Super Rugby, the Force became the first team since the Brumbies of 2001 to hold the Chiefs try-less in a match in Australia, with Aaron Cruden and Gareth Anscombe posting the five penalty goals between them.
Head Coach Michael Foley said he was pleased with the commitment and composure displayed by his team tonight.
“I am absolutely thrilled for the blokes. I say that every time they come off a result like that – but the character shown in front of a champion side tonight was outstanding,” he said.
“We started with a lot of enthusiasm; a couple of things did not go quite right for us, we weren’t quite accurate with a few things but I think from the first couple of minutes you could see the amount of heart the boys put into that performance.
“Last year we had a lot of good performances but probably couldn’t quite close things out. Maybe some of those difficult moments – like that last 20 minutes [tonight] – last year we didn’t believe enough.
“[However] the guys have put in that much more hard work to get to those points in a game to really believe they can finish over the top of opposition.
“We’ve only had three wins but if you bottle some of the great stuff out of the last three weeks, we could go on to have a good season – but we haven’t had that good season yet.”
Having scored the opening try in their past two matches, the Force continued that trend in the 13th minute when Hodgson latched onto the back of a rolling maul to cross in the right hand corner.
Flyhalves Sias Ebersohn and Cruden traded penalty goals in the 26th and 32nd minute respectively, before the All Black playmaker added two further first half penalties to give his side a 9-8 lead at the break.
A long-range Gareth Anscombe penalty four minutes into the new term extended the lead to four points but was quickly negated when Hodgson finished a string of pick-and-drives close to the Chiefs line, when he crashed over for his second.
The Force almost added another immediately after when Nick Cummins dived over in the corner, only for the TMO to confirm that the winger had put his foot in touch prior to grounding the ball.
An Ebersohn penalty in the 58th minute provided his side with a six-point buffer with Cruden reinstating the three-point margin with 18 minutes remaining.
While the Chiefs continued to ask questions of the Force defence throughout the final quarter of the match, the Western Australians had the answers on each occasion, hanging on for a memorable three-point victory.
The Force will now have the week off courtesy of the bye, before heading to Brisbane to face the Queensland Reds on Saturday, 5 April.
2014 Asteron Life Super Rugby – Week Six
Saturday, 22 March 2014 at the ‘Force Field’ (nib Stadium), Perth
Kick-off: 7pm
Western Force 18 (Matt Hodgson 2 tries; Sias Ebersohn 1/2 conversions, 2/3 penalties) defeated Chiefs 15 (Aaron Cruden 4/4 penalties, Gareth Anscombe 1/1 penalties)
Western Force:
1. Pek Cowan, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Kieran Longbottom, 4. Sam Wykes, 5. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 6. Hugh McMeniman, 7. Matt Hodgson (c), 8. Angus Cottrell, 9. Alby Mathewson, 10. Sias Ebersohn, 11. Nick Cummins, 12. Kyle Godwin, 13. Solomoni Rasolea, 14. Luke Morahan, 15. Jayden Hayward. Res: 16. Heath Tessmann, 17. Tetera Faulkner, 18. Ollie Hoskins, 19. Adam Coleman, 20. Brynard Stander, 21. Ian Prior, 22. Zack Holmes, 23. Marcel Brache.
Coach: Michael Foley
Chiefs:
1. Jamie Mackintosh, 2. Mahonri Schwalger, 3. Ben Tameifuna, 4. Michael Fitzgerald, 5. Brodie Retallick, 6. Liam Messam, 7. Sam Cane, 8. Liam Squire, 9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 10. Aaron Cruden (c), 11. Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 12. Tom Marshall, 13. Tim Nanai-Williams, 14. Mils Muliaina, 15. Gareth Anscombe. Res: 16. Rhys Marshall, 17. Pauliasi Manu, 18. Josh Hohneck, 19. Kane Thompson, 20. Tanerau Latimer, 21. Augustine Pulu, 22. Andrew Horrell, 23. Anton Lienert-Brown.
Coach: David Rennie
Yellow Cards: Jamie Mackintosh (36 min)
Red Cards: Nil
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe
Crowd: 16,380
Dear Lord, if you give us back Johnny Cash, we'll give you Justin Bieber.
Here you go
Who's still pinching themselves after last nights effort by the boys... ecstatic!
My head is telling me we won! Wouldn't feel this bad if we'd lost!
May the FORCE be with you!
Me SinBin! Am going to watch it again today!
On the downside, Alby has been cited for stamping on Sam Cane :-((
http://www.sanzarrugby.com/superrugb...thewson-cited/
Ypu didn't see any chiefs players not rolling away after he did that though
Can't say I'm surprised, it was silly stuff which wouldn't have been out of place in the 70s but not nowadays.. Let the ref sort it! Prior better train hard the next two weeks.. 2.36 minutes >
I'm still getting my head round that win! am blown away with the ferocity they showed that was out and out sheer guts! Couldn't believe my eyes watching Hodgo literally carrying a Chiefs on his back to get over for a try and Sam throwing 2 guys off to the side in a maul! Outstanding! Hope Kieran is ok? And was it Nathan face down for a few minutes at a scrum not moving - then rolls over stands up and keeps playing! My god what guts! Heroes!
Says it all...
Last edited by SinBin; 23-03-14 at 09:42.
Yes, it was indeed Cheesel Val :-)) What a guy ;-D
Quick question - are we able to re-sign Sias under ARU rules? I think he is an overseas development player isn't he?? He's come on in leaps and bounds since last season - big ups to him :-)
Yes
“Everyone knows whether it’s rugby, politics or whatever, front-rowers should rule the world, so to have a hooker at the helm makes sense,” Nathan Charles Western Force & Wallabies Hooker.
Just who are those two hot male models at the 13 minute 50 second mark in the background, wearing Wests tops sitting amongst the Wags.Believe me a few of the Force lads punch well above their weight with the ladies
Wests Scarborough 1st Grade juggernaut has played finals rugby each and every year since its inception and continues this remarkable feat yet again this season and unbelievably it's still rolling on and as an added little circle jerk for the masses Wests actually hold the record for the current longest unbroken finals record.
Celebrating Big'Willy Style!
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