Round 9 Western Force v Crusaders

[WFDom]

Three bits of media worth chasing up are the post match singalong and Beale Cap presentation (both Insta, not sure if elsewhere) and the Media Conference in the Force article here- https://westernforce.rugby/news/forc...saders-2024420

The West heals people! Looks like Kurtley now realises it's all about what you've got, not what you haven't got.

If he's changed then welcome Kurtley 2.0

[palitu]

It was a good game to watch, i was only expecting to watch the first half, but since we decided to play, i forfeited some sleep for the excitement

it was on my phone, so hard to really see the details, but i think the vibe was really consistent physicality in contact which blunted their attack, and gave us ours. Set piece reliability of course helped a lot and set those platforms and retained posession, so happy to see that coming together.

My family and i just moved over seas so have been out of the news and it took me until the 60th minute to realise it was rodda out there. Then i got super excited he was a machine, and great to see him come on and put in a good shift.

Horton, kuenzle, stewart... well, there were too many that put in good shifts for me to name. One i would like to add is Tiatia. He gets a lot of stick here, and does give away some silly penalties, but there is no one else on the team who gets the ball like him and is consistently dangerous. he has solid kicks and high balls. I would continue to start him and kuenzle on the wings.

glad to have some positive new on here

[shasta]

Beale Cap presentation (both Insta, not sure if elsewhere) and the Media Conference in the Force article here- https://westernforce.rugby/news/forc...saders-2024420

For anyone who wants to see that & (like me) doesn't do social media its available (surprisingly) at WA Today. Click on the "Sport" tab rather than the Rugby Union one.

Then follow up on the next clip to see Torrie Lewis' magnificent surprise win at the Xiamen Diamond League yesterday. Doesn't show in clip but I watched the meeting last night & pretty sure world champ Sha'Carri Richardson thought she'd got the dip in and carried on a bit for the camera. Might be enough to get in the next bloopers on Youtube.

[Burgs]

...so have been out of the news...

You don't need the news mate, you just need TWF!

[wholetruth]

Was really pleased to see the effort that the lads put into this match, would like to watch again before getting too carried away with individuals, as it wasn't perfect by a long shot.
I dare say there will be a change of tone from the East media from "mighty win over the almighty Crusaders" to, "well they were 11th, no big surprise".
Amazing what a difference 80 minutes makes...
Also a bit disappointed in Crusaders Captain Tom Christie giving zero recognition to the victors post match, came across as a bit of a sour $%& to me...
Three bits of media worth chasing up are the post match singalong and Beale Cap presentation (both Insta, not sure if elsewhere) and the Media Conference in the Force article here- https://westernforce.rugby/news/forc...saders-2024420

Good to see Nick Taylor working for the Force. I'd rather see him back at The West though.

[chibi]

What were the crowd figures like? Or did they know they were going to lose and didn't turn up?

[Burgs]

What were the crowd figures like? Or did they know they were going to lose and didn't turn up?

Haven't heard/seen a figure, but seemed better than recent matches on the screen.
Hard to compare, because Lang Park is so much bigger, but was competitive with that crowd to look at on the non-broadcast side.

[Burgs]

Carter hails Force's defensive 'game-winning moments'

Mon, Apr 22, 2024, 4:39 PM
Ben Somerford

Western Force lock Sam Carter says the side’s 37-15 win over the Crusaders on Saturday showed a lot of fight, praising the side’s defensive performance.

The Force secured their second win of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season at HBF Park against the reigning champions, with Carter among the home side’s four try scorers.

The home side’s defence was a major feature of the game, keeping the Crusaders scoreless in the first half after their early Levi Aumua, including when reduced to 14 when Carlo Tizzano was yellow carded.

At one point in the second half, the Force defence repelled 17 Crusaders attacking phases.

The Force’s defensive effort was underlined by one statistic more than any, registering 206 tackles compared to the Crusaders’ 70.

“I think it shows a lot of fight,” Carter told Stan Sport.

“We spoke about that during the week. A young team with only a couple of experienced guys, they dug in.

“Those moments were game-winning moments when you hold teams out five metres from your line, they can turn a game.

“That’s what we did, we went down the other end and scored. Full credit to everyone that was playing in the blue.”

The 34-year-old 16-cap Wallaby’s try came in the 72nd minute, putting the Force up 30-15 and effectively settling the contest.

But it came after a huge defensive effort from the Force, repelling the Crusaders attack with a big Reed Prinsep tackle, before Ben Donaldson’s long kick down field forced the visitors back.

From the ensuing chase, where Force players arrived in numbers, Macca Springer was caught out holding on to the ball.

The Force scrum rolled forward, with Michael Wells making a break which fell short, before Carter was fed the ball and forced his way over.

“I didn’t think I was going to make it,” Carter laughed.

“I was only one foot out. I didn’t think I was going to make it. It was good timing.

“I didn’t do the work. The boys before me did the work. I just got over at the end.”

The result keeps the Force firmly in the finals hunt, having won two of the side’s past four games to sit four points outside the top eight.

Carter, though, was more pleased about the performance, offering confidence ahead of the Round 10 away trip to face the 10th-placed Highlanders.

“It was good,” he said. “We spoke about it all week. We were back home after a long tour, a week off.

“The boys just wanted to rip in. it was going to take a 15-man effort. I think that’s what we got for 80 minutes. All the boys ripped in and went for it.”

[jargan83]

What were the crowd figures like? Or did they know they were going to lose and didn't turn up?

7,600ish (forget the exact number) was announced at the ground.

[James]

Jeez 200 tackles- it might be hard to bring that intensity two weeks running. The bye probably helped, but it wouldn't hurt to run some fresher legs- Wells and Pearce to start? Horton clocked up a stack of minutes, but you'd imagine Funnell would be out with concussion protocols.

[Garry Owen]

Jeez 200 tackles- it might be hard to bring that intensity two weeks running. The bye probably helped, but it wouldn't hurt to run some fresher legs- Wells and Pearce to start? Horton clocked up a stack of minutes, but you'd imagine Funnell would be out with concussion protocols.

Surely Williams is due back now, that will help and hopefully another prop

[Kernow]

Surely Williams is due back now, that will help and hopefully another prop

Pretty sure I heard Cron say that he'd be travelling with the squad to NZ.

Does anyone know who we have lost to HIA for the next fortnight? Is Croxon OK and Franklin too???

[Tazzmania]

Franklin failed his HIA so I assume its the mandatory 12 day stand down at a minimum.

[Kernow]

Franklin failed his HIA so I assume its the mandatory 12 day stand down at a minimum.

Ah, so on balance its one out of the second row stock and one in with Williams. Assume Funnell was an HIA too, I think that was him that Marley helped up - commentators said get Marley off not but I think they mixed the names up?

[The InnFORCEr]

Force was paying 34 to 1 to win by 15+

Not to mention the Collingwood, Manly and Force treble...........I had chicken for dinner