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The Western Force has opened its 10th season of Asteron Life Super Rugby with a bonus-point 25-13 victory over reigning champions, the NSW Waratahs, in Sydney this afternoon.
In a physical encounter, the win was set up by the Force’s hard-working and courageous forward pack with the Western Australian side defending admirably across the field and maintaining their composure throughout the match to take the opportunities on hand for points.
The Force held a 8-3 advantage at the break before laying on three tries in the second half, with Angus Cottrell, Luke Morahan and Francois van Wyk all crossing. The Waratahs crossed for two second half tries of their own, both through winger Rob Horne.
The four-tries-to-two victory marks the first time in the club’s history that the Force has won the opening match of its season, with the 12-point victory marking the team’s biggest away win in Australia. It is also the first time the Force has recorded back-to-back victories over the Waratahs.
The Western Force will now travel to Brisbane to take on the Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, 21 February.
WHAT THEY SAID… Michael Foley, Western Force Head Coach
“It was very courageous. You come into a game like this knowing what sort of challenge it is: you’re playing the best team in the comp at their home first up, which we did last year. You know what it’s going to take because your footy’s not going to be perfect this time of year. I take my hat off to the courage that was shown out there today and I thought the defence was magnificent.
“We had a little chance early [to score a try] and missed it, and they’re the sort of things that can be distracting. As I said to the team just now, they showed a lot of maturity in the first part of the game because there were a few things that didn’t come off for us and we stayed composed.
“It’s a massive challenge to beat the Waratahs and part of that challenge is to remain composed when things don’t quite go well for you and they have their moments. I thought our guys were excellent in that space today.”
2014 Asteron Life Super Rugby – Week One
Sunday, 15 February 2015 at Allianz Stadium, Sydney Kick-off: 4.05pm (local)/1.05pm (AWST) Crowd: 20,271
Western Force 25 (Chris Alcock, Angus Cottrell, Luke Morahan, Francois van Wyk tries; Sias Ebersohn 1/3 conversions, 1/2 penalty goals, drop goals 0/1, Zack Holmes 0/1 conversions) defeated NSW Waratahs 13 (Rob Horne 2 tries; Bernard Foley 0/2 conversions, 1/2 penalties)
Half time: Western Force 8-3
Yellow Cards: Wycliff Paul (35th min), Alby Mathewson (54th minute)
Red Cards: Nil
Referee: Steve Walsh
Western Force
1. Pek Cowan, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Tetera Faulkner, 4. Sam Wykes (c), 5. Adam Coleman, 6. Angus Cottrell, 7. Chris Alcock, 8. Ben McCalman, 9. Alby Mathewson, 10. Sias Ebersohn, 11. Marcel Brache, 12. Solomoni Jnr Rasolea, 13. Kyle Godwin, 14. Luke Morahan, 15. Dane Haylett-Petty.
Reserves: 16. Heath Tessmann, 17. Francois van Wyk, 18. Oliver Hoskins, 19. Steve Mafi, 20. Brynard Stander, 21. Ian Prior, 22. Zack Holmes, 23. Luke Burton.
Head Coach: Michael Foley
NSW Waratahs
1. Benn Robinson, 2. Tatafu Polota Nau, 3. Sekope Kepu, 4. Dave Dennis (c), 5. Will Skelton, 6. Jacques Potgieter, 7. Michael Hooper, 8. Wycliff Palu, 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Bernard Foley, 11. Rob Horne, 12. Kurtley Beale, 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14. Taqele Naiyaravoro, 15. Israel Folau.
Res: 16. Tolu Latu, 17. Jeremy Tilse, 18. Paddy Ryan, 19. Sam Lousi, 20. Mitchell Chapman, 21. Stephen Hoiles, 22. Brendan McKibbin, 23. Matt Carraro.
Head Coach: Michael Cheika
BY THE CLOCK
Min Score
5 Waratahs chasers penalised for being in front of the kicker. Sias Ebersohn attempts kick at goal 12 metres in from touch but misses. 0-0
9 Winger Marcel Brache charges down a Nick Phipps clearing kick but is unable to cleanly ground the ball in goal in an attempt to score the try. 0-0
12 Waratahs penalised for being offside. Ebersohn kicks the penalty from three metres inside the halfway line. 3-0
18 Ebersohn drop goal attempt charged down by Will Skelton. 3-0
24 Force attacking scrum penalised on their 22m line. Bernard Foley kicks the penalty goal from in front. 3-3
35 Wycliff Palu receives a yellow card for being offside defending his try line. 3-3
36 Adam Coleman wins the Force lineout five metres from the try line, with Chris Alcock at the back of the rolling maul to score the try. Ebersohn misses the conversion. 8-3
HALF TIME 8-3
46 The Force win their own scrum 5m out from their attacking line. Twelve phases later, Angus Cottrell steps through one tackle to score under the posts. Ebersohn converts. 15-3
50 The Force is penalised for being offside. Foley misses the attempt at goal. 15-3
54 Alby Mathewson given a yellow card for being offside at the ruck inside his own quarter. 15-3
54 From the penalty, the Waratahs spread the ball wide with winger Rob Horne touching down in the corner. Foley misses the conversion attempt. 15-8
68 The Western Force chase through a clearing kick with Mathewson claims the ball before kicking across field for open winger Luke Morahan, who picks up the ball on the line to score. Ebersohn misses the conversion. 20-8
71 Adam Ashley-Cooper penalised for not releasing the ball. Ebersohn misses the penalty goal. 20-8
73 Kurtley Beale chip kicks inside his own quarter, with Force prop Francois van Wyk marking the ball before running 15 metres to score the try. Zack Holmes misses the conversion. 25-8
77 From a lineout, the Waratahs spread the ball wide to the left with Israel Folau finding space before putting Horne away for his second try of the afternoon. Foley misses the conversion. 25-13
FULL TIME 25-13
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Originally Posted by GIGS20
