0
Here is my match report for the Saints game. Sorry its a little late I've had a lot of stuff to do. Sorry also I couldn't get any pictures either my camera has died.
The Pre-Match
As a guest at Franklin Gardens I could be forgiven for thinking I was back in Australia- the weather was unusually beautiful and sunny and all around me I heard the thunderous chants of Bruce! Bruce! Bruce! (after the Saints captain). It was a bit shock coming and expecting a few hundred people only to be drowned in green with around 7,500 fans (half capacity) in the stadium with maybe a dozen or two supporting the home team. The stadium was awesome too. Just what we need in Perth only twice the size.
Amusingly, instead of the usual psych-up music you hear for Force games at Subi, the Saint's music sounded more like a PG Western film theme song. It was only when Thunderstuck was belted out in honour of the visiting teams did the cauldron start to boil......
The First Half
It was a bit of a shaky start for the Force. We couldn't secure the kick-off and lost our first line-out throw leading to a bit of unnecessary pressure. Our backrowers showed their mettle on numerous occasions, however, and the boys started to apply some of their own pressure. An early try opportunity (6th minute) was lost but an insuing penalty was goaled by Scotty Daruda for a 3-0 lead (8th minute). Regretfully it was the last time the Force scored in the match.
It was at this point I became rather confused because referee Chris White didn't seem to be reffing under the ELV rules which I thought was the whole point of these UK tour matches and penalties were given out applenty (I counted at least 8 rather officious penalties in the first half). It really was a game that proved how much better the ELVs have made the game. There were a few other highlights in this stop-start half. There was a great 'AJ moment' when the man himself regained a lost line-out ball and took three defenders to bring him down. Matt Hodgson had some great runs as did Haig Sare. And probably our best opportunity of the half an intercepted ball was knocked on with the try line begging. Those aside, neither team was on-form and both would put in hard yards only to lose the ball by handling errors or lack of support at the breakdown. The half ended with a 37th minute line-out that was lost by the Force (their 3rd in the half) which resulted in a Saints penalty which Bruce Reihana (Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!) missed. Another penalty from the same spot was awarded to the Saints, however, after the drop out and Bruce did not falter a second time. The half ended 3-3.
The Second Half
Both sides seemed a bit more composed in the second half and more phases were strung together. The game swayed back and forth a bit with a few chances for both sides until at 55 minutes the Saints put in some power scrummaging to have the Force backpedalling back over their own try-line. With few other options, Matty Hodgson received a yellow card for illegally trying to prevent the Saints scoring and a penalty try was given. (10-3). The disappointment of the score was compounded by the fact that pocket-rocket James O'Connor was replaced. To the Force's credit from this point, they worked hard in attack with 14 men and almost made it over but unfortunately kept losing the ball. A later try to Saints' Chris Ashton (newly recruited from League so its not just the Waratahs) sawthe game practically over for the Force. But again the boys fought on and again made it to within metres of the try-line only to turn it over. This was returned and the Saints runners just had too much gas left for the Force boys and they scored the final try at the death to make the score 22-3.
Men of the match
Yellow cards aside Matt Hodgson had a great game- saving our bacon with numerous turn-overs and had a few great runs. But for a consistently good 80 minute performance the Force's MOM was David Pocock. For the Saints Chris Ashton's double was noteworthy but the Saints new Argentinian second rower Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe line-out pressure and general play was a big factor for the Saints.
Ironicly, the man who most seemed to help the Saints cause was the least popular man in the stadium- Chris White. Saints fans in the crowd with me expressed a hate for White that perfectly mirrors our own feeling for one Jonathon Kaplan (may he burn in hell). But it was White's officious control of the game the prevented the Force playing to their strength and building the phases and building the pressure. With our line-out not functioning well and our scrum moving somewhat like an Italian tank it was always going to be a struggle for the Force.
The Verdict
The game was not as bad as the score-line suggests. Had the final turnover not happened the game easily could have ended 15-10 which at least has an air of respectability about it. It is understandable that, with all the injuries we've had, our set-pieces would struggle. A strong set piece needs a team that know each other well and work well together but O'Connor and Murphy have had hardly any time together in the second row to get the line-out right and they haven't had much time together working in the scrums either.
A big positive was the hard work of our back-row. They won numerous turnovers and were composed and efficient at the breakdown. The unfortunate side to this was that this ball that could have been used well in attack was kicked away and never really game us a chance to get on the front foot. The other big positive was going to the bar after the game to see the Wallabies leading in the Tri-Nations (27-10. Wooo hooo! At least we got one win huh?)
I'm a big believer that you learn better from mistakes than victories so I think all of the players will take a lot out of this. We'll see how much experience they have gained when they face Leicester in the final match. Speaking to Dave Pocock at the end he said the tour was starting to get a bit long so hopefully they'll want to end the long, hard tour with a bit of a bang.
Unfortunately I can't make the game in Leicester next week but given that the Saints game has only continued the trend of the Force never winning when I'm at the game I think it might actually work out better for them.
Just before I end this up I'd like to say a big thanks to any Saints fans who come to the site (I gave out scraps of paper with the TWF website on it to anyone who asked me about the Force) because you were all very friendly and gracious in victory and I had a great day in Northampton. So thats the report. I hope you enjoyed it.
Reply With Quote
thanks james!!
Originally Posted by Happy
CHEERLEADERS ROCK!!! 
