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It was far from a classic, and it will never be remembered anywhere as a great game of rugby, but the Force and the Brumbies have shared the honours in a game not short of a few thrilling moments. An after the siren penalty attempt by James O’Connor fell just short to deny the home team a win that was theirs for the taking.
The Brumbies won the coin toss and opted to kick off on a mild night in Perth. The men in white looked solid on attack in the early stages, although they were aided by Pek Cowan down behind play. David Pocock put in a sterling effort to win a turnover, thwarting the Brumbies attack. However a lost Force line-out saw the Brumbies spin the ball wide and exploit the same wing that the Crusaders enjoyed 3 weekends ago with Henry Speight going over to open the scoring. Giteau’s conversion made the score 7-0 to the Brumbies.
Where the Waratahs may have ignored the fan’s calls for more entertaining rugby, the message has not been lost on Richard Graham. The Force opted to kick for touch on two penalties within O’Connor’s range; much to the joy of the home fans. Many, many turnovers later, the Force managed to clean up a sloppy ruck and send the ball to an unmarked Sam Wykes who crossed for his second try of the season. O’Connor’s conversion levelled the scores at 7-7.
Matt Giteau hit back with his second of two penalty attempts, the first coming off the upright and almost causing a bit of déjà-vu. It seemed to come against the run of play, however, as the Force were beginning to dominate both the scrum and the breakdown, causing numerous turnovers.
A scrum penalty to the Force gave O’Connor a shot at goal and his ever-true boot didn’t disappoint the home fans. The scores yet again levelled at 10-10.
The final few minutes went by with plenty of exciting, with the Force hot on attack metres out from the Brumbies line, however the Force couldn’t find their way across the chalk and Josh Valentine hoofed the ball into touch to end the half.
Richard Graham reigned in the changes after the break with Ripia coming off and O’Connor moving to 10, adding a bit of sparkle to the Force attack.
The Force continued the second half where they left off; deep in Brumbies territory and with plenty of possession. Yet for all the prime attacking opportunities, the Force failed to make an impact on the scoreboard with two O’Connor penalty attempts going astray.
The scrappiness of the first half continued to creep into the game as neither team looked like getting anywhere near the try line. Some Force pressure, after a great build up by the hardworking forwards, almost saw a 5 pointer to James O’Connor only for him to lose the ball over the line.
The Force had the penalty advantage, however, and continued to press at the Brumbies line with a series of 5 metre scrums. However the dedicated Brumbies defence hung on to keep the home team out.
James O’Connor finally broke the deadlock at the 70th minute mark with a tough sideline penalty. But the Brumbies broke back immediately with one to Matt Giteau- equalling the scores at 13-13.
In the final few minutes neither team was able to get themselves into a position to win the game. The Brumbies came close only for a charged down drop goal attempt by Matt Giteau gifted the ball back to the Force, who won a penalty 10 metres from the sideline on the 50 metre mark. O’Connor’s attempt didn’t have the legs, yet the Force forwards were able to win the ball back from the Brumbies. They couldn’t clinch it, however, with the Brumbies winning a penalty for holding on and Matt Giteau sending the ball into touch to finish the game 13-13.
The Good
The Force scrum has come along in leaps and bounds this year; hats off to Nick Stiles for that effort. While it was worrying to see Pek Cowan go off with what looked like a broken jaw (Graham says it looks like season over for him), watching Dunning, Charles and Longbottom stick it up the Brumbies front row was a joy to watch. Charles did his Wallabies prospects no end of good tonight and you have to wonder how much more Longbottom could do before he comes onto Deans’ radar.
The breakdown was also an excellent aspect of play for the Force tonight. The Brumbies simply couldn’t hold onto the ball and a lot of that came down to David Pocock and Matt Hodgson. It almost seemed like the Brumbies were giving it away for free in some parts of the game. It wouldn’t surprise me if Pocock leaps to the top of the Super XV pilfers table after that effort- and that’s despite missing half the season with injury.
The Bad
We had mountains of territory and possession and yet we did nothing with it. How many 5 metres scrums did we have? How many 5 metre line-outs? You need to come away from the opposition red zone with points at least one time in three and, for all the possession we had, we only managed to score three times. How do you fix our attack? It reminds me of a Simpsons quote from Ned Flander’s mother: “You gotta help us, Doc. We’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Credit to the Brumbies- their defence was good- but if we ever want to become a top half of the table side we need to be far better than we were. Although I enjoyed seeing the early kicks for touch instead of for goal, when it was clear that wasn’t working, Sharpie should have pointed for the posts and built a buffer before declaring an all-out attack. I suppose the good news is that we have all the potential to become an amazing team: A powerful scrum, a well functioning line-out, a backrow that can cause havoc at the breakdown. We just need that last piece of the puzzle to fall into place in the backline and get our players to turn all of that into points.
The Ugly
The vBookie must have cleaned up pretty well on this weekend’s book. Boo.
Man of the Match
The official man of the match was Sam Wykes and that’s a pretty fair call. Almost all of the Force forwards put their hand up for this one, while it is hard to pick a standout amongst the backs. Harder still to pick a standout amongst the Brumbies. Matt Dunning was a rock in the scrum and put in some good hits. David ‘the Vulture’ Pocock had an excellent game and gave the Brumbies numerous headaches. Matt Hodgson was his usual quiet, yet effective self. But Wykes ran the ball well, scored a try, was reliable in the line-out and popped up everywhere around the field.
Notes:
Willie Ripia has been struggling with a calf problem. Richard Graham said that his lower leg muscles haven't returned to fitness since being in the moon boot and that partially explains why he has lacked form recently. Thats why he was subbed in the second half. O'Connor looked good at 10 but we really need a Scott Staniforthesque 12. Power and pace.
Tony Rea didn't have a spray in the post-match interviews. He was pretty happy with the draw. Clutching at straws. It sounded like the Brumbies were signing the team song after the game. You've got to take what you can get. I'm surprised the players hadn't forgotten the words.
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still don't really look like they have an attack coach.
Originally Posted by benny
