The Trial game that set Subi on fire
I just can't wait to see the full side in action last nights game was a real blinder by a team of guys enjoying their game. real hot :flame:
To all the players on the field last night you showed real guts and some great plays.
The score does not show the real game as the penelty count was one sided and the boot of Bosman just gave the Cheetahs a higher score on the board. The boys really took it to them
The Emirates Western Force have played their first trial game, going down 29-19 to the Cheetahs at Subiaco Oval tonight.
In traditional trial match style, the team played expansive and attractive rugby, with members of the youthful backline enjoying the solid platform that had been laid by the forwards.
Coach John Mitchell was encouraged by the way his charges expressed themselves.
"We wanted the guys to have a go and not be inhibited," Mitchell said. "You can't win a flag playing one dimensional rugby; this team's not here to come second."
"The team has got self belief and they'll give it a crack."
Tai McIsaac, who captained the side in the absence of Nathan Sharpe and Scott Fava, was impressed by the form shown by his inexperienced forward pack against the seasoned Cheetahs line-up.
"Considering the experince we had, we did really well at the set piece," McIsaac said. "We gave it to them on their feed (into the scrum), and sometimes on ours."
The Emirates Westen Force will now travel to Melbourne and Auckland for away trial games against the Crusaders and Blues respectively.
EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE 19 - VODACOM CHEETAHS 29 - Full Time at Subiaco Oval, Perth.
Result irrelevant for Force
via Fox Sports
By Wayne Smith
January 23, 2006
SAVE for the minor matter of the result, the first appearance of Australia's Super 14 expansion team, the Western Force, proved a resounding success.
The Force lost 29-19 to fellow newcomer the Cheetahs of South Africa, at Perth's Subiaco Oval on Saturday, but that was of virtually no consequence, considering the two sides went into the pre-season trial match with almost contradictory objectives.
The Cheetahs, intent on getting some confidence-building wins on the board before their intimidating debut in the Super 14, against the Bulls in Bloemfontein, threw everything into the encounter, including their four Springboks.
Two of them, flanker Juan Smith and halfback Michael Claassens, scored the South Africans' only tries. A third, five-eighth Meyer Bosman, demonstrated just how desperate Cheetahs' coach Rassie Erasmus was for a victory by kicking five penalty goals.
By contrast, Force coach John Mitchell rested Wallabies Nathan Sharpe, Brendan Cannon, Scott Fava, Matt Henjak, David Fitter, Digby Ioane and Cameron Shepherd and took the chance to blood a swag of youngsters.
"The objective was not to leave any of the younger guys wondering about the pace and intensity of Super 14," said Mitchell yesterday.
Before the match, 20 Force players had never experienced rugby at that level. After it, only 19-year-old outside centre Zander Peden, who missed the game because of a back injury, was still in any doubt about what to expect. He will have his education rounded off before the season-opener against the Brumbies in Perth on February 10.
Despite its overall inexperience, the WA side still outscored the Cheetahs three tries to two, one of them a penalty try as the South Africans were forced to resort to professional fouls to restrict the scoring early in proceedings.
Not surprisingly, the Force unveiled an expansive brand of rugby based on the pattern Mitchell refined when he coached the All Blacks in 2002-03.
Looking on were no fewer than 17,000 spectators - the Waratahs-Brumbies match in Wollongong attracted 5684, the Reds-Blues trial at Ballymore only 4258 - and, while it was impossible to say how many of them were no more than curious rugby novices, indications are that what they saw will entice them back. By yesterday, more than 30,000 tickets had been sold to the Brumbies game.
Yet there was more than razzle-dazzle to the Force's game, with the WA scrum - even without Test front-rowers Cannon and Fitter - proving that it could cope with everything the Cheetahs could throw at them, Os du Randt included.
"We gave it to them on their feed and sometimes on ours," said hooker and acting captain Tai McIsaac. Even the hard-to-please Mitchell was delighted with the way young front-rowers Angus Scott and David Te Moana - now a trim 122kg after starting out as a 160kg 19-year-old with the Gold Coast Breakers - rose to the challenge.
"The first 30-40 minutes were quite outstanding," Mitchell said.
McIsaac wasn't the only player seriously underused by the Reds in recent years to stand out in the match, with five-eighth Brock James - widely regarded at Ballymore as having a big boot and not much else - turning in an impressive display.
So too did his halves partner, former Waratahs reserve Chris O'Young, who supplemented his customary slick passing game with several incisive runs, while James Hilgendorf showed enough attacking spark to suggest Wallabies utility Cameron Shepherd faces a serious challenge for the 15 jersey for the Force.
The Australian