Rupert Guinness | April 13, 2009


THE Western Force are a strong chance of making the Super 14 finals, according to Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper, the architect of their 28-27 loss on Friday.

Force coach John Mitchell has vowed to make up for that defeat when they play the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday night, saying: "We won't try to get over the loss, we will."

Cooper's comments came after a Cory Jane try snatched victory after the full-time siren at Subiaco Oval, lifting his side to fifth with 24 points, three shy of the top four.

"These guys are going to make the top four, I believe," Cooper said. "That's how good we rate them."

He is confident the Force can peg their way back from 10th place (19 points). "The contact area, they slowed our ball down really well and stole the ball," he said. "I stopped counting at four. [David] Pocock is good, [Richard] Brown's good.

"We try to look after our contact area … we work really hard [on it] and we still weren't able to achieve a quick go-forward."

The Force, who play NSW at Sydney Football Stadium, have injury concerns over wingers Nick Cummins (leg) and Scott Staniforth (knee and ankle) and flanker Pocock (concussion).

Cummins, who scored two tries against the Hurricanes, came off in the 49th minute after injuring the leg that he broke last year. Staniforth was injured in a fall in Friday's game, but played on.

Winger-fullback Cameron Shepherd is unlikely to play because of the ankle injury that has sidelined him for the past three weeks.

Force centre James O'Connor should be available after missing last week's game with a hamstring injury.

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