Force present united western front after Brumbies upset

[travelling_gerry]

Force present united western front after Brumbies upset

Greg Growden | March 2, 2009


ENJOYING their first away victory on Australian soil certainly helps, but the Western Force made sure they convinced all they are a united front after their triumph over the Brumbies.

The body language and words expressed by a serious Force captain Nathan Sharpe said so much after their unexpected nine-point win.

Then again, over the past few months, Sharpe and his fellow Force players had suffered a lot, including endless tales of disharmony with their coach John Mitchell, off-field disciplinary problems and the threat of many players following Matt Giteau back to the east next season.

This is a time when a young province could easily fragment beyond repair, but the Force's victory seemed to rectify everything … for the time being.

Shortly after the win, Sharpe was confronted by television commentator Greg Martin. The minute-long conversation was intriguing.

GM: Well Nathan Sharpe, did you see that one coming, a bonus point victory here at Canberra Stadium?

NS: Yeah, we did, mate. We came here to win, and that's what we did. What it was is that it just showed a collective will and spirit by all the boys.

GM: What do you put it down to? Beaten at the breakdown. Beaten in the scrum, especially in the second half. Wonderful out wide in the first half.

NS: It was just the commitment. Our defence was fantastic … I don't think they really threatened our try line …

GM: Did you see it coming?

NS: Yeah, bloody oath we did. I think we were the only people who did. That's why we like it over there.

GM: Why do you guys travel so well?

NS: We just like each other's company.

Having a winger who can score three tries also helps personal relationships, with Cameron Shepherd, who was out for most of last year with a broken ankle, excelling in a rare moment away from his customary fullback spot.

AUSTRALIAN TEAM OF THE WEEK

Each week, Greg Growden and Rupert Guinness pick the form Australian Super 14 team.


15 Sam Norton-Knight (NSW) (2)
14 Cameron Shepherd (Force) (1)
13 Digby Ioane (Qld) (3)
12 Berrick Barnes (Qld) (1)
11 Peter Hynes(Qld) (1)
10 Quade Cooper (Qld) (2)
9 Josh Valentine (Force) (1)
8 Wycliff Palu(NSW) (2)
7 George Smith (ACT) (2)
6 Matt Hodgson (Force) (1)
5 Nathan Sharpe (Force) (2)
4 Hugh McMeniman(Qld) (1)
3 Guy Shepherdson (ACT) (1)
2 Stephen Moore (ACT) (2)
1 Nic Henderson (ACT) (1)

(Number of times selected in brackets).Player of the round: CAMERON SHEPHERD. A rousing return from injury, securing a rare Force victory away from home with a hat-trick of tries.


Try of the round: CAMERON SHEPHERD. Any of the three would do, but the first involving good lead-up work by Matt Giteau and Ryan Cross was special.


http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au:80/new...842248423.html

[Burgs]

I didn't see the Reds match but not hearing many good things about it to justify that many selected?
To be honest I think Two Dads is lucky over Gerrard and Palu had half the effect of Brown, but I guess he was duty bound to slot a couple in there.

[tragic]

Bloody oath! Sharpe seemed so hyped up in that post-match interview!

And, um, "rare win away from home"? I thought most Force wins were away from home.

Where's the Statistics Fairy?

[Cookie]

Even after we kick arse GM still manages to focus on the negatives of the game,and still tries to imply that we were beaten.Yet it was a different story for the reds game,he tried to put a positive spin on everything negative.Where as Canno was spot on and is better than GM and Kearnsy put together.Why couldnt we have Kafe and Canno at the brumbies force game.....and canno doing the post match interview....we need canno on the rugby club.....

[jargan83]

away record for the Force (and I am doing this in my head having just woke up)

2006: 1 win, 1 draw (7 away games) teams played away: Hurricanes (L), Reds (L), Highlanders (L), Blues (L), Lions (D), Cheetahs (W), Sharks (L)

2007: 2 wins 1 draw (6 away games) teams played away: Stormers (W), Bulls (W), Waratahs (D), Crusaders (L), Chiefs (L), Brumbies (L)

2008: 4 wins (7 away games) teams played away: Sharks (L), Cheetahs (W), Lions (W), Blues (W), Highlanders (W), Reds (L), Hurricanes (L)

2009: 1 from 1 so far (6 away games) teams played away: Brumbies (W)
Posted via Mobile Device

[Cookie]

Remaing away games will be tough Chiefs,Crusaders,Tahs,Stormers.Can we win these......"yeah,bloody oath we can".....Sharpie's a legend

[Cookie]

oops forgot the Bulls in pretoria

[waratahjesus]

it would be nice if the force & nathan sharpe could play as well at subi as they do away, they would put themselves in a very nice position!

[JediKnight]

it would be nice if the force & nathan sharpe could play as well at subi as they do away, they would put themselves in a very nice position!

That's why we need to move away from the dumpheap of AFL into our own rectangular stadium....watch out Super 14 (or 15!) when that happens!!!

[waratahjesus]

why has the stadium got anything to do witht he form of the team?
if they can win away without much support they should be able to win in any shape at home!

[tic]

I didn't see the Reds match but not hearing many good things about it to justify that many selected?
To be honest I think Two Dads is lucky over Gerrard and Palu had half the effect of Brown, but I guess he was duty bound to slot a couple in there.

The Reds were completely dominant and were robbed by a touch judge of the 4 try bonus point.

They deserve their selections - except I didn't think Barnes was good enough for team of the week.

[jono]

This is a time when a young province could easily fragment beyond repair, but the Force's victory seemed to rectify everything … for the time being.

those last four words are so infuriating! why is it so impossible for him to give the force credit where its due.
the disharmony(or whatever you want to call it) has been resolved. its not just gone for the time being...

[GIGS20]

The Reds were completely dominant and were robbed by a touch judge of the 4 try bonus point.

They deserve their selections - except I didn't think Barnes was good enough for team of the week.

The call was good tic, I rewound it and watched it 4 times, get over it it was a good win. Maybe the five or so tries they bombed by dropping ball on the last pass were what cost you the bonus point!

Really nice to see a team play some entertaining rugby, sure it was messy in patches, but they did to the Cheetahs what the Force should've done last week. Those big Saffers were stuffed by the 20th minute and virtually stopped playing. Shame the Reds didn't have the fitness to make it last, because there would've been about 4 on offer in the last ten minutes if they could run.

[Cowboy]

why has the stadium got anything to do witht he form of the team?
if they can win away without much support they should be able to win in any shape at home!

I have felt for a while now that we don't play well at home because the players don't quite feel like Perth and Subi is their home. I'm hoping that the players are starting to change that, and moving to a ground that doesn't view them as simply an easy buck will help.

[Burgs]

They deserve their selections - except I didn't think Barnes was good enough for team of the week.

That's kinda what I was saying Tic
I wasn't putting them down waiting for the Reds defense to argue back as I hadn't seen the match. Simply going by the feedback they weren't overwhelmingly good against an underwhelming opposition. It was the bottom of the log clash after all.