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Wests Scarborough 1st Grade juggernaut has played finals rugby each and every year since its inception and continues this remarkable feat yet again this season and unbelievably it's still rolling on and as an added little circle jerk for the masses Wests actually hold the record for the current longest unbroken finals record.
Actually the truth is it was something along the lines of 'We are going to be around for a long time'
Wests Scarborough 1st Grade juggernaut has played finals rugby each and every year since its inception and continues this remarkable feat yet again this season and unbelievably it's still rolling on and as an added little circle jerk for the masses Wests actually hold the record for the current longest unbroken finals record.
Video of Twiggy's speech to the boys is here
http://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby/m...9383acfce3ea09
Will need to make it happen now, or look pretty silly and when you have $5billion you don't like looking silly!
lost for words. So happy so proud. Had the whole family there tonight and could not have been a better night to drag along a 2 and 6 year old. Nothing could spoil it.
I thought Rona had a great game last pass on a couple of tries and his offload for the first try was awesome to see.
I know I said lost for words. I put the phone down three times whilst posting to drink beer and savour the win.
Generally speaking you aren’t learning much if your lips are moving!!!
That was fate and karma at work right there!
So gutted I missed it
Great game, Fucken battled right through to the 80!
Love your post on gagr Andrew, offering to sell the Tahs supporters Force stickers
Nice one
This is SSSsssooo sweet. Still celebrating in the city. So many non-Rugby folk are happy too.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
Oh I like this Wayne Smith article in the Oz
Especially this bit "The dramatic intervention of Forrest, whose personal worth is estimated at $5billion, could just be the game-changer the Force and Hodgson in particular have been praying for. If the Force are able to pay their way, the ARU surely has no grounds to axe them, especially as their win tonight means they finish the season locked with the Australian conference winners, the Brumbies, on six wins apiece."
Senior sport writerBrisbane
@WayneKeithSmith
If ever the rugby gods granted a player’s every wish, it was tonight at nib Stadium as Western Force captain Matt Hodgson booted his first goal ever in his final match of his career to seal a stunning 40-11 victory over the Waratahs.
But it was only after fulltime that the good news really arrived.
Barely had the match concluded than Perth mining billionaire Twiggy Forrest called the Force players into a huddle and announced that he would finance their continued survival as a Super Rugby team. The Australian Rugby Union has made it its mission to cull them from the competition but the Perth outfit simply refuses to lie down, let alone to die.
The dramatic intervention of Forrest, whose personal worth is estimated at $5billion, could just be the game-changer the Force and Hodgson in particular have been praying for. If the Force are able to pay their way, the ARU surely has no grounds to axe them, especially as their win tonight means they finish the season locked with the Australian conference winners, the Brumbies, on six wins apiece.
And if that means going contritely back to SANZAAR and admitting they got it wrong when they promised to cut Australia’s Super Rugby presence from five teams to four, then so be it.
The realisty was that they demolished a side that easily outstrips them in terms of Wallabies top-up, with NSW fielding no fewer than 10 Test players in their starting side. But it was not until the 74th minute that the Tahs finally opened their try-scoring account, when hooker Hugh Roach scored at the front of a lineout. By then, however, the Force had already scored five tries of their own on the board as they methodically tore the Waratahs apart.
It was by far their highest winning score against NSW, their biggest winning margin again them and the first time they had ever scored five tries against them. And to inflict further pain on the team from Sydney, it was the fourth match in succession that the Tahs have leaked 40 points. Clearly, the defensive patterns built by the man who is now the fulltime defence coach for the Wallabies, Nathan Grey, have completely collapsed.
Hodgson was almost in tears as he spoke to the adoring Perth fans, the legendary Sea of Blue, after the match. “If I could write a script, I’d pretty much write it that way,” Hodgson said. “We spoke during the week about (me) kicking the goal at the end, so I’m glad we were 30 points in front. It’s something I always dreamed about, at home, winning, so it’s awesome.
“What the players did for me tonight, that was something pretty special and I don’t think I will ever forget that and I just want to be part of this forever.”
It could have gone either way tonight, with the emotion not just of Hodgson’s impending retirement but of the fact that this could have been the final match the Force ever player threatening to spill over. But a runaway try within 56 seconds of the kick-off by winger Alex Newsome ensured that all the passion was channelled into the win and, really, from that point, the Waratahs were scarcely in the game.
In every respect, the Force turned on a wet weather master class, pinning the Tahs in their own territory and then pouncing on their mistakes – which came thick and fast as the conditions turned the football into a cake of soap. It really was a performance that the best of the NZ sides would have been proud to claim.
The Waratahs had players of their own retiring or leaving for overseas or interstate, in Dean Mumm, Rob Horne and David Horowitz, but they had attempted to play – intentionally – an ice-cool brand of football. It was supposed to be detached but somehow it came out as disinterested. The intense heat of the Force performance entirely melted the Tahs’ cool demeanour and clearly Dave Wessels won this edition of the coaching battle from Daryl Gibson.
By halftime, the Force had opened up a 26-6 lead, with former Waratah Tatafu Polota-Nau steering over a driving maul try, winger Marcel Brache flopping on Dane Haylett-Petty’s neat grubber over the line, while Jonno Lance was put away on a 40m run to the line after NSW’s Test star Ned Hanigan carried the ball loosely into contact and Polota-Nau and Curtis Rona instantly made space for the replacement five-eighth.
But the real celebrations began early in the second half when the Force put the shunt on the renowned NSW pack and sent them hurtling backwards towards their own line. Michael Wells picked up the ball as his pack backpedalled on top of him, but lost the ball in Michael Ruru’s heavy tackle and who should be on hand to spike the ball for a try but….that man Hodgson.
It was his 20th Super Rugby try which gave him a neat century of points for the Force but when the Force were awarded a penalty straight in front of the posts in the final minute, his team-mates simply insisted he take the shot at goal.
Hodgson had to ask Lance for some tips on how to place the ball on the kicking tee but too much had gone so stunningly right for the battle-scarred warrior for him not to put the ball straight between the posts
Poetic result !! For the first time ever we murdered a team.hodgo what a send off !!
Try kicking us out of the comp now!
Bill puller, come clean, accept you won't pursue the legal case, everyone will understand.
So proud to be there 90 minutes after the game waiting for hodgo as well as the rest of the players
No other club can match that support
Go the Blue Believers
It all makes it that much harder for the tools at the ARU to shaft us - Twiggy's intervention should get some good media coverage, adding momentum for him to help us and pushing the ARU further into the ridiculous corner they have created for themselves, nothing more than they deserve.
I'll admit I did have a tear in my eye with the fairytale finish for Hodgo
Or maybe it was rain....
Might be a bit rough on the flight back tomorrow but so worth it.