Lazy Force need to show more discipline for opener
Western Force will address their discipline ahead of the Super Rugby opener after a third player was sin-binned in two games during a 34-26 trial win against Asia Pacific Dragons at UWA Sports Park on Saturday.
Coach Michael Foley will also need to do some last-minute scrummaging work after the Force struggled against the invitation team’s front row that was weaker than those they will face during the 2016 campaign, starting with Melbourne Rebels at nib Stadium on February 27.
Prop Chris Heiberg was sent to the sin bin after repeated team offences on Saturday, while second-rower Steve Mafi and flanker Kane Koteka were yellow-carded for similar reasons in the first trial, a 28-0 win over the Hurricanes.
Foley was pleased with the way his side used the ball but acknowledged there was still work to do.
"Both weeks we've given away penalties we need to make sure we don't give away," Foley said.
"Those sort of penalties in defence usually come from taking a bit of a rest. There is work for us to do there.
"If you look where they got under our noses it's when we took rests. There was lot of good in that game but we're looking for a step up mentally.
"We are looking not to see that lazy moment in the game that lets the opposition off the hook.
"We are working very hard with the ball and showing some good signs in that area but you just make the game a more even contest if you don't stay at them.
"In our defence there was some nice stuff in the first three phasese but giving away easy phases and letting a team march up the field ....we've got to work on those things.
"We scrummed well early but there were times were lazy, we had a bit of a rest.
"We were a little bit disrupted by the fact we went down to seven men, losing a prop."
Foley said he would seek clarity from SANZAR game manager Lyndon Bray about the new mauling laws after the Force were penalised a couple of times from the line out.
"We'll definitely have a look at that and try and get some clarity from Lyndon about what is going to happen in the first couple of games," he said.
Captain Matt Hodgson, who would have had bad memories about this fixture last year after ripping a hamstring and missing a huge chunk of the season, was relieved to come through unscathed.
"We have to be really mentally focussed and switched on for 80 minutes and that's probably where we fell away a bit," Hodgson said.
"We've got two weeks to improve on a few things. We need to learn to really only worry about ourselves when we play teams like that, focus on our style and not drop in the way we play.
"The scrum was probably a little bit difficult for our front row to adjust to their ever changing front row.They had six or seven blokes come in and swap.
"They probably struggled to get into a rhythm so they have to focus on that.
"It's hard to play against a side like that because it is so unstructured and you don't have anything in their game that you can prepare for but that's a good learning curve for us."
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