Western Force Win Aussie Grand Slam!

[Swee_82]

One thought I had at ground level last night (and perhaps with the TV view it looked otherwise) but I got the feeling that perhaps the Tahs were so sure of their superiority at scrum time that they were set on pushing the boundaries, hoping the ref would just blame the "inferior" force scrum, hence a few "early engagement" calls. One of the few places that the ref wasn't having a blatent tah-vantageous moment in the end.

[GIGS20]

Just a comment on Brownies blood bin. The timing could not have been better, as he was struggling to shake off an ankle problem from Tuqiri's tackle. There are some cynical thoughts I have on this, but I don't want SMH to plagarise my comments.

I wondered aloud at the time whether the strapper had taken a razor blade on with him.

It was pretty cynical, but is it really any different from the infamous 69th minute calf injury by the starting tighthead to bring on the starting loosehead who has had 15 minutes rest?

[Cookie]

One thought I had at ground level last night (and perhaps with the TV view it looked otherwise) but I got the feeling that perhaps the Tahs were so sure of their superiority at scrum time that they were set on pushing the boundaries, hoping the ref would just blame the "inferior" force scrum, hence a few "early engagement" calls. One of the few places that the ref wasn't having a blatent tah-vantageous moment in the end.

Totally agree swee,the only positive from Leckie all night,and going by his comments kafe should stick to commenting on back play not scrums.I thought we held our scrum well,considering they had 6 wallabies in their pack.Even Kearnsy admitted that there wasnt much between them at one stage(couldnt believe my ears).

[zimeric]

Kafe really riled me with his comment that the ref shouldve been blowing up the Force scrum more because they were "clearly" being dominated... this was 10secs after a short arm for the Tahs pushing early...


Well done Stanners, super try and som great straight inside running.. As for Pocock he had some huge tackles on players that may have gone unnoticed.. he caught Palu and Waugh several times by their pants and hung on for dear life before someone else caught up.. he got a 9/10 for me
Brown was great and so was JOC, and Sheps was joe cool, very comfortable in attack & defense. If he had got that intercept (cm's in it) it wouldve been a force try not Tahs..

Next weekend is going to be an expansive high scoring game.. the lions have re-invented themselves and no longer look like the poor cousins of the Bulls.. and more like the Reds
will be interesting to see how we deal with unstructured play.. we seem to cope much better defensively with methodical attacks (reds game excluded)..

[Cookie]

Wykes was lucky that his quick tap resulted in a try,it would been embarassing if it didnt.

[travelling_gerry]

Rupert Guinness
April 19, 2009 - 1:16AM .
Waratahs 14 Force 15

WARATAHS captain Phil Waugh was last night fuming after his team's first Super 14 loss to the Western Force - and let his team know it after their one-point defeat.

Waugh made it clear that the mood he showed and what he said in his post-match press conference was as frankly relayed to his team.

"[It's] pretty similar to what I just told you: it's pretty frustrating," Waugh said when asked what he told the team after their 15-14 loss.

"We are in the 10th week now and making the same errors.

Asked what was causing the problems to re-occur, he replied: "What do you reckon? What are you seeing? It's the same thing, isn't it?"

When asked if it was possible that a lack of confidence or self-belief was developing in his teammates, Waugh was equally as at a loss.

"I don't know. If we could put our finger on it we would correct it," he said. "It is pretty frustrating. I mean, not just for us, but for everyone.

"I am sure sitting in the crowd, it is just as frustrating for you as it is for us. We are creating enough opportunities. We probably gifted them two tries. And we left four or five of our tries out on the field.

"Everyone is going to criticise us for making errors and not playing the most attractive footy. But geez, I'll tell you what, we created a lot more out there than they did. We just couldn't execute."

The Waratahs now face the daunting task of winning all three of their games in South Africa if they are to make the finals.

The Force, who deserved their win in front of a crowd of 22,317, were robbed of two tries - at the 11th and 44th minutes, the latter when referee James Leckie ruled a long, flat pass from halfback Josh Valentine to No.8 Richard Brown forward.

But he Force were rewarded for being able to shelve their frustration at the 50th minute when winger Cameron Shepherd scored the game's first try off a sharp grubber kick by Valentine 39 metres out. Five-eighth Matt Giteau converted and they were in front 10-9.

But then the Waratahs responded at the 53rd minute with a try to second-rower Will Caldwell to be 14-10 up.

More opportunities started to emerge for the Waratahs, but too many times they kicked when they should have run.

The Force seized their next big chance when Scott Staniforth scored in the corner at the 66th minute. Giteau's conversion bid hit the posts, but the Force were still leading 15-14.

The Waratahs botched their best chance to seal the win at the 72nd minute after a tremendous 35m bust by No.8 Wycliff Palu to the Force 22m. But the attack only led to ball-handling errors and eventually the Force pushing their way back into NSW territory.

The Waratahs led 9-3 at half-time, but were rueing the yellow-carding of Caldwell in the 39th minute for a dangerous tackle on Valentine.

Territorial domination was quickly won early by the Force after the kick-off and they held it for first 13 minutes and kept the Waratahs on the back foot with several breaks. Giteau was typically instrumental with his passes and kicks for territory, but it was 18-year-old inside-centre James O'Connor who first raised alarm bells.

In the fourth minute, the teenager pulled off a tremendous scoop of the loose ball, dummy-passed with effect and then busted into NSW's 22m and made it to the corner to cross. But he was taken out by Lachie Turner and Timana Tahu just a metre out from the line.

While frustratingly limited in their opportunities early, the Waratahs finally found themselves in the Force's 22 in the 13th minute off a tremendous kick for touch by their five-eighth Daniel Halangahu from the NSW 10m line to 5m out from the visitors' try line.

The Force won the ensuing lineout on their throw. And the next play ended with the Waratahs being penalised, but it at least gave NSW much-needed momentum.

Then in the 16th minute, the first point-scoring chance came for the Waratahs when the Force were penalised at the breakdown. Halangahu kicked it to put the Tahs up 3-0 up.

The impact was not just on the score, but seemingly on Waratahs' morale as they repelled more attacks by the Force and asserted themselves at the breakdown.

Meanwhile, the Force started to come undone under referee James Leckie's calls.

The Force had already been robbed of one try at the 11th minute after Giteau set them up brilliantly with a deft cross kick to Staniforth from 25m out. Staniforth took the ball perfectly, then within two strides chip-kicked it over for fullback Drew Mitchell to chase.

Mitchell got the ball and was over for what seemed a certain try. But then Leckie disallowed it after the touch judge ruled that Staniforth had stepped into touch just as he kicked the ball. Replays showed Staniforth was certainly not out.

The Force were then penalised twice more - at the 21st and the 29th minutes. And on both occasions, Halangahu's boot was on song, giving NSW a 9-0 lead. The Force finally won a Leckie call at the 35th minute when Waugh was pinged for not binding properly in the scrum. Giteau's penalty kick left them 9-3 down. Then came Caldwell's yellow card at the 39th minute, the Waratahs' only consolation being that Cameron Shepherd's penalty kick from 49m out and in front missed the posts.

WESTERN FORCE 15 (Cameron Shepherd, Scott Staniforth tries Matt Giteau con pen) bt NSW WARATAHS 14 4= (Will Caldwell try Daniel Halangahu 3 pens) at Sydney Football Stadium. Referee: James Leckie (AUS).

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald


http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/spor...5.html?page=-1

[travelling_gerry]

[mudskipper]

There should be a Cup or Shield for this achievement...

[Ecky]

How good were Shep, Spanner & JO'C?

How good would the have been with a fit Shep & Spanner for the entire season?

Welcome back Shep!

[shasta]

"We probably gifted them two tries. And we left four or five of our tries out on the field.

"Everyone is going to criticise us for making errors and not playing the most attractive footy. But geez, I'll tell you what, we created a lot more out there than they did. We just couldn't execute." - Phil Waugh

No wonder they can't score tries. The captain has no idea what is going on out in the middle. Someone send him a DVD of the match.

[laura]

Fan-bloody-tastic!!!
Was so good to be there. Spanner & Drew's combination for that try was brilliant, shame the ref had to stuff it up. They were robbed.
Spanner was definately Man on the Match, played a brilliant game and was an absolute trooper with his injuries. His face when he was heading back to the change rooms was priceless!
Brownie was the same with his injuries...get injured, get back up and keep going. He only went off because they made him.
From the 79th minute until the whistle went were the most nerve-wracking seconds of my life!! Edge of the seat for the entire second half but I don't think I was even sitting down for the last minute and a bit, then we got the ball back and kicked it out and oh my word I'm pretty sure I deafened the chick sitting in front of me
Freezing my butt off, getting rained on, losing my voice for a bit and waiting for ages to congratulate the players was well worth it. Have never been prouder of our boys!!

[LarryNJ]

From the 79th minute until the whistle went were the most nerve-wracking seconds of my life!! Edge of the seat for the entire second half but I don't think I was even sitting down for the last minute and a bit, then we got the ball back and kicked it out and oh my word I'm pretty sure I deafened the chick sitting in front of me
Freezing my butt off, getting rained on, losing my voice for a bit and waiting for ages to congratulate the players was well worth it.

That is what being a fan is all about!

[Darren]

Spotted this tidbit on another forum

I heard from one of my mates there on the fateful day the Tahs got Dusted by the Farce that the little footys the team threw into the crowd at half time got thrown back at them after the match!

deadset classic.

[The InnFORCEr]

that is very funny
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