Western Force v Highlanders 08/04/2006

[.X.]

Article from www.rugbyrugby.com
http://www.rugbyrugby.com/TOURNAMENT...ry_50264.shtml

Highlanders edge Force in Dunedin 08/04/06
Force still seek first win

The Highlanders edged the Western Force 25-22 in their Super 14 Round Nine match at Carisbrook in Dunedin on Saturday, leaving the Perth-based Australian side still seeking their first win in the competition.

But a sense of great relief with accompany local joy - the Highlanders had to hang on desperately in the end as the Force searched for the winning score in a game littered with errors.

It was an afternoon match in New Zealand for a change and the sun shone on a great Dunedin afternoon, but the sides made little use of the luxury in a match of many errors and little continuity.

The errors started early. In the first three minutes there were two line-outs, two scrums, two resets and a free kick. It got better, mainly thanks to the eagerness of the Force in their gold jerseys to remember the Western Australian gold rush of the 19th century.

The Force's eagerness paid off, as they got the first try. They tapped a free kick from a scrum and did a lot of pick-'n-go with the forwards before going wide right. Back the ball came with a hard pass from Matt Henjak to prop Gareth Hardy. Hardy's impetus took him past Seilala Mapusua for a try. The kick was not hard but Shepherd missed it.

The Force, playing with the breeze, continued to attack. James Hilgendorf broke and Scott Staniforth carried it on but the defence held. But Mapusua, who made several mistakes in the match, was penalised for going in at the side, and Shepherd made it 8-0.

Digby Ioane was penalised at a tackle, and Ben Blair scored the home side's first points.

The Highlanders started to get on top in the scrums where McHardy found Carl Hayman an uncomfortable handful, but they made little headway regardless of how many phases they got going.

From a line-out on their left the Force went wide and Shepherd came up from fullback swinging away from Neil Brew and then handing off Blair to score a strong try. He converted and the visitors to Carisbrook led 15-3. They did not score for nearly 50 minutes of play after that.

Just before the break the Highlanders made a penalty into a line-out. They drove a maul and hooker Jason Macdonald was the man at the back, falling down to score the try. That made it 15-8 at the break.

In the second half the Force started well, going through 12 phases at one stage before David Pusey was shoved out at the corner on their left.

The change came for the Highlanders with the arrival of Chris Smylie at scrum-half. Suddenly the ball was quicker, passed straight from the ground and the Highlanders started running as they had not done before. Going right they had a two-man overlap, but Josh Blackie cut straight and was strong enough to get over. Blair converted and the score was 15-all with half an hour to go.

The Force had a great chance when Luke Doherty, an early replacement for Rudi Vedelago when the big lock, just back from injury, was helped off the field injured, charged down Callum Bruce's kick. But the eager Force gave away a penalty and a promising opportunity was lost.

The Highlanders had a scrum with a broad blindside to their right. Blair came skating through from fullback past Henjak's cover. He raced up to Shepherd, fixed the Force fullback, and passed perfectly to Vilimoni Delesau and the big wing ran round to the posts. Blair converted, and the Highlanders led 22-15 for the first time in the match. There were 20 minutes to go.

Just after this there was an ugly incident which could have repercussions for Staniforth. He went in on an in-tackle but did so on a player without the ball, high, without using his arms save only for a leading elbow, which felled Blackie and required him to be treated. Staniforth was penalised but allowed to play on. A citing commissioner may well find the incident worthy of scrutiny.

Blair goaled the subsequent penalty and the home side led 25-15.

The Highlanders looked certain to win and now went on a bonus-point hunt. They twice made penalties into attacking line-outs and looked about to score till Willie Ripia, a replacement at first five-eighth, slung a long left-handed pass which Staniforth intercepted. He raced off over acres of ground until Delasau hunted him down. Staniforth got a pass to Shepherd who scored under the crossbar. Shepherd converted. 25-22.

After the siren went to signal time expired the Force attacked, but the Highlanders held out.

Man of the Match: It was not a match of great skill or heroism. But Ben Blair injected life into it whenever he could and Carl Hayman was powerful. But our man of the match is Craig Newby for his work in the line-outs, on defence, with the ball in hand and at the tackle.

For the Highlanders:
Tries: Macdonald, Blackie, Delasau
Cons: Blair 2
Pens: Blair 2

For the Western Force:
Tries: Hardy, Shepherd 2
Cons: Shepherd 2
Pen: Shepherd

Teams:

Highlanders: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Vilimoni Delasau, 13 Neil Brew, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Roy Kinikinilau, 10 Callum Bruce, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Craig Newby (captain), 7 Tim Boys, 6 Josh Blackie, 5 Filipo Levi, 4 Tom Donnelly, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Jason Macdonald, 1 Nick White.
Replacements: 16 Anton Oliver, 17 Clarke Dermody, 18 Kane Thompson, 19 Hale T-Pole, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Willie Ripia, 22 Ben Smith.

Western Force: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Gavin DeBartolo, 13 Josh Graham, 12 Scott Staniforth, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 James Hilgendorf, 9 Matt Henjak, 8 Scott Fava, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 David Pusey, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Rudi Vedelago, 3 David Fitter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Tai McIsaac, 17 Angus Scott, 18 Luke Doherty, 19 Tim Davidson, 20 Chris O'Young, 21 Scott Daruda, 22 Brock James

Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Gary Wise (New Zealand)
Television match official: Brent Murray (New Zealand)
Assessor: Kim Eichmann (New Zealand)

[.X.]

Western Force come away with another point, and a couple of problems. Rudi Vedelago after some strong work in the lineouts came off the field hurt, and Scott Staniforth would appear to be in more trouble then Ned Kelly with one of the most blatant shoulder charges I have ever seen. It would be very safe to assume that Scott will be having some quiet time for the next couple weeks.

Overall a very scrappy match that the Force could have won as Rodent told us in his thread a couple of days ago - we need to do a lot of work in our Ruck and Maul if we are going to step up to the next level. I dont know if I would call this an improvement on last weeks efforts. It appeared at times that we were trying to hard and pushing passes/kicks that didnt need to happen.

[travelling_gerry]

yeah.....young Digy had a shocker...

and I dont know how Stanifort didnt have a little rest time during the game let along lookin at a red card..

[travelling_gerry]

Henjak had a better game I thought.....

and was Fitter dragged or injured?

[.X.]

http://www.rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/ar...916759463.html

Highlanders 25 Western Force 22

Western Force was again guilty of letting a glorious chance of its first ever Super 14 win go begging, as it relinquished a half time lead to slip to an eighth successive defeat, this time to the Highlanders in Dunedin.

Following last week's trend, the Force got off to another great start, with prop Gareth Hardy charging over for a try within the first ten minutes.

Its position improved with an individual effort from Cameron Shepherd, which gave John Mitchell's men a seven point lead at the break.

But Josh Blackie's early second half try swung the momentum, and after Vilimoni Delasau broke the deadlock, Shepherd's second with seconds to go was only enough to secure the Perth side's second bonus point of the season.

Having lost three of their last four games, the local media were calling the match a must win for the Highlanders, but the Force started with all the purpose.

Scott Staniforth's bullocking run broke a hole close to the the Highlanders line, Matt Henjak timed his inside ball perfectly and Hardy used his bulk to pile over.

Shepherd and Ben Blair traded penalty goals, but with copious handling errors from both sides, Shepherd's first try was a welcome spark of quality.

The Force full back, whose positional switch since returning from the Commonwealth Games has sparked a surge in form, took the ball wide before skipping past two weak tackles to breeze over.

With the Highlanders struggling to secure any territorial advantage, ground made had to be exploited - and hooker Macdonald was the recipient of their first notable drive, ploughing over to reduce the deficit.

The introduction of Clarke Dermody after the break gave the Highlanders' scrum new impetus, and the levelling try was not long coming.

From quick ball, Blackie spurned a two man overlap to go himself and reach the line with an outstretched arm, confirmed by the video referee.

With the scores locked at 15-all a schoolboy error from Force winger Digby Ioane all but handed the Highlanders the crucial score.

His knock on with no-one close conceded field position, and from the scrum Blair's devastating line break gave Delasau the room to sprint over.

As the Highlanders desperately sought a bonus point with seconds remaining, Willie Ripia's pass was intercepted by Staniforth who offloaded to Shepherd to give the visitors the slightest of chances.

With the Highlanders hanging on, a kick and chase had home hearts in mouths, but the ball bounced agonisingly away from Shepherd, and left the Force still seeking their first win when they face the Blues in Auckland next week.

AAP

[Burgs]

As far as I could see, Fitter was dragged Gerry. Although I am sure that most Coaches are using the "8 Man Bench" by pulling a Prop during the first half then getting away with the Ref having to allow him to return if a Front Row player is "injured". The Law is there to be exploited and, with the return of the genuinely big Prop, the speed of the game is seeing the need for shorter playing time for these big horses.
While legal, I believe it is against the spirit of the game and at the end of the season the Law should be amended to be if the Prop returns for anything other than a blood rule you forfeit one of your other Reserves.
There is an interesting system in place for the Under 19 World Champs where all squad members can be named as reserves, but only seven replacements can be used. Not sure if this applies to other "Junior" levels or not?
Back to the game at hand, I agree that Henjak had a good game, probably his best for the Force. He had some great hit ups and big tackles again and it was only the last couple of passes before he was replaced that were any real blemish on his game.
I think the boys played 57 minutes of pretty decent rugby in a crappy game but then lost the plot again.
In fairness, I think if the Highlanders had been on their game, they would have buried us by the 60 minute mark but an ordinary first half and a slow first 5-10 to start the second by the Kiwis allowed us to have a sniff.
If not for chasing the bonus point from a four try haul the score would have definitely read 25-15 but credit to the Force for playing the full 80 minutes and recording our second point in the comp.
The (to me) surprising win by the Reds over the Cats overnight we remain a bonus point win away from 13th position and we do face the bottom half of the ladder (apart from the Crusaders) in the run home, all be it as away games.
The Blues, Cats, Cheetahs and Sharks are all winnable matches for us and it is time for the potential and promise to turn into victories on the road.
However, a loss against the Blues and (for mine at least) pre season '07 begins when they return to Perth.

[The EnForcer]

I know they didn't play as well as hoped and some had shockers. The forwards in general were pretty tight ,the backs, again, had a few very poor periods. Henjak was OK but he has more than that to show, he stood up well though. Digby, I'm sure there won't be anybody more disappointed than him. Sahrpie is definately finding his feet in the leadership role now.

From a supporters perspective, i don't think either team really deserved a win, the Highlanders were shocking especially the fact that they were in their beloved home ground.

I can still see that last kick over the head and not bouncing in our favor. I know some will say that was just kicking the ball away but I didn't think there was enough of that earlier in the season and it is a very effective way of breaking an extremely determined defense.

Well done boys, in a place like the "House of Pain" it can't be easy.

[Mambo No. 5]

I am finally going to be negative - they were pretty crap. The highlanders were also crap and that was the only reason we were close. Hanjak played OK but kicked out on the full at least twice that I can remember. The backs looked like they were playing together for the first time. It was simply our best chance of winning because for the first time we played against a team that was playing worse than us. They just knew how to win and our guys didn't. They are going to have to improve 200% if they are going to even get close to the blues... They won't give us that much of a chance.

[The EnForcer]

I am finally going to be negative - they were pretty crap. The highlanders were also crap and that was the only reason we were close. Hanjak played OK but kicked out on the full at least twice that I can remember. The backs looked like they were playing together for the first time. It was simply our best chance of winning because for the first time we played against a team that was playing worse than us. They just knew how to win and our guys didn't. They are going to have to improve 200% if they are going to even get close to the blues... They won't give us that much of a chance.

Keep the pecker up Mambo. it's going to be all the sweeter when we win mate......now nobody go and read anything funny into that comment.

[shasta]

I know they didn't play as well as hoped and some had shockers. The forwards in general were pretty tight ,the backs, again, had a few very poor periods. Henjak was OK but he has more than that to show, he stood up well though. Digby, I'm sure there won't be anybody more disappointed than him. Sahrpie is definately finding his feet in the leadership role now.

I'm with Mambo. I've been among their strongest defenders so far but it was a case of 2 steps forward 3 steps back in the past 3 matches. Some of the other close losses they still played up to potential and were beaten by the better team. This was just a shocker against inept opposition and they shoud have had them well and truly on the rack by halftime. No use saying any different.

I thought Henjak was better as an individual but I don't think his reintroduction did a lot for the backline as a whole. Hilgandorf was on the back foot most of the afternoon. Most of their backline passing raids looked fragile, timing was out, balls dropped that had started to stick in the previous couple of weeks. Previously, from the time O'Young came on against the Bulls, Jimmy was getting good crisp service from O'Young and threatened the line when he ran.

Good halves combinations are hard to come by. I really would have liked to see if O'Young and Hilgandorf coul have developed. I think Mitchell should have persevered for at least another week. It will be a big call to change again this week with the Blues looking like hitting their straps.

Digby. While I'm a big fan and see him as a real future star for us, there have just been too many dropped balls from him. In past matches his problem seemed to be mainly bad ball security when going into contact. Saturday he was just dropping them cold. Tom Fearn has some work to do there.

The bloody injury gremlin has struck again. Jaysus! I can't believe the run the boys have had. All in all I think the Cats in Job'urg could be the only realistic chance of the boys not being dakked in 2006, well in the S14 at least.

[The EnForcer]

I'm with Mambo. I've been among their strongest defenders so far but it was a case of 2 steps forward 3 steps back in the past 3 matches. Some of the other close losses they still played up to potential and were beaten by the better team. This was just a shocker against inept opposition and they shoud have had them well and truly on the rack by halftime. No use saying any different.

I know you are right Shasta and Mambo. I should imagine the coaches will be hitting the boys pretty hard as they are now in a position where they know they can win, they have shown they have the ability but they are just not performng consistently on the day.....and that can't be accepted within the organisation. Honeymoon period is over and I have no doubt that Mitch will know this and be acting on it.

But on the up side, and not making excuses for the boys, they have shown that they have the ability, they have shown that they can potentially win and often the hardest thing to acheive is consistency within a team. Our first milestone is not far from our grasp.

[Rodent]

Yeah, I think a few of the members here might have been looking through rose tinted glasses, cos we were pretty ordinary for large portions of that match. Rudi out for the rest of the season with a broken leg was a real turning point I thought, after he left we really didn't put pressure on their line-outs.
I thought Henjak was pretty poor, bad kicking, ordinary passing, although his defence definately stepped up from previous performances its still not where it needs to be. I agree with some of the other posts when they say O'Young should have been given another crack, or at the very least more game time. But I thought it was definately a step backwards for the boys. They played bloody well for the first 10 or 15 minutes, but they were pretty ordinary for the rest of the game after that.

I don't know how many times we will say it this year but silly mistakes are absolutely killing us. We put on so much pressure and dont come away with any points... That has to shatter the boys confidence, once we clean that up we will start to put some sides away.

I think the boys will just put that game behind them and move on. There are still several winable games this year. Any of the last 3 in South Africa are winable, I think it will be a big ask against the Blues next week who are starting to find some form... Especially their 2 centres Tipoki and Tuitavake.

We're not done yet though, if we can play that badly on the road and still come only inches away from a win, we must be doing something right.

[Darren]

Tellme to shut up if you think I'm talking crap, but I was pretty excited by Satruday's game, being the eternal optomist I could see that they are now at a point where they *should* be able to hold their own against any opposition. Previously they were still learning how to play together as a team, I don't think this is so much the case any more.

If they can maintain their ability to continue fighting in the face of defeat (as they have done so far this season), maintain and continue to improve on their team playing and get their [gosh darned] individual performances in order we'll get that illusive 4 points.

I think the Blues will be another close match - but hopefully it'll be them that get the close score bonus point this next week.

[Edit: Yep - Rose coloured glasses firmly in place ]

[The EnForcer]

Tellme to shut up if you think I'm talking crap, but I was pretty excited by Satruday's game, being the eternal optomist I could see that they are now at a point where they *should* be able to hold their own against any opposition. Previously they were still learning how to play together as a team, I don't think this is so much the case any more.

If they can maintain their ability to continue fighting in the face of defeat (as they have done so far this season), maintain and continue to improve on their team playing and get their [gosh darned] individual performances in order we'll get that illusive 4 points.

I think the Blues will be another close match - but hopefully it'll be them that get the close score bonus point this next week.

[Edit: Yep - Rose coloured glasses firmly in place ]

Shut up Coach

[Darren]

ok...