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Preview Western Force vs Chiefs
- By RivalsDM
The Force's season has been a disappointment. At the halfway stage, they were in the thick of the semifinal hopefuls, but a string of poor results has all but distinguished their play-off chances.
It's a mystery has to why the Force perform so badly on their home turf. They have struggled at Subiaco Oval for three seasons now and I suspect they will struggle once again against a red-hot Chiefs team.
The Chiefs are at full strength while the Force are beset with injuries.
Force coach John Mitchell has named 17-year-old James O'Connor at inside centre. It's a big call from Mitchell to hand the schoolboy his first start against such a potent Chiefs backline. There is no doubt in my mind that the Chiefs will see the youngster as a potential weakness.
The Chiefs are in fourth position but need to win to stay in the play-off places. And there is no reason to suggest that they won't.
The competition's top scorer this year, Stephen Donald, has been quite brilliant during the second half of the competition. His all-round game has been second to none and he has afforded space for his try-scoring machines out wide.
Those try-scoring machines I am referring to are Lelia Masaga and Sitiveni Sivivatu. Give them space and you will pay the ultimate price. The Force will need to put pressure on the Chiefs pack to keep the speedy wings influence on the game down to a minimum.
One-on-one battles are often hyped about, but in a fifteen man game, they seldom materialise. But if I had to pick one battle worth commenting about, it would be the flyhalves.
I've mentioned Donald's credentials, and I needn't mention Matt Giteau's! The Force No.10 is one of the most gifted players on world rugby and has a massive impact on the Force's fortunes. He has an uncanny ability to ease through gaps and put players around him into space. If the Force are going to win this one, Giteau will need to take charge.
Force coach John Mitchell, himself a Waikato legend, said the Chiefs had timed their run to the semifinals to perfection, claiming some big scalps along the way.
"They are the only team to beat the Crusaders and did so by matching their physicality and building and sustaining pressure on them for the full eighty minutes," said Mitchell.
"Their scrum has been outstanding and their forward play, particularly around their loose forward trio has paved the way for a lot of their wins," he noted.
Mitchell said his side was looking to recapture its early-season form, rather than looking towards the pipe dream of claiming a near impossible semifinal.
"We can't afford to focus on factors we can't control, so our sole focus is on playing our best rugby from now until the end of our campaign, whenever that happens to be," he said.
It's sure to be at the end of the round-robin stage as they require a freaky run of results to se them through.
We have chatted about how good the Chiefs backs are, but credit needs to go to the pack for giving them quality ball. Their front row has been solid this season and their giant No.8 Sione Lauaki can wreak havoc on his day.
If Lauaki is in the mood, as he has the tendency to drift through games, he will be hugely influential. It takes two or three to bring him down every time, sucking in defenders to give his backs some space.
I just have the feeling that the visitors have too much firepower for the Force. As Mitchell said, they are the only team to have beaten the Crusaders this year, and that says plenty, and they will keep their semifinal dreams on track at the Subiaco Oval on Saturday.
Prediction: The Force have struggled on their home turf since their inception. Saturday will be no different. Chiefs by 18 points!
Recent results: 2007: Chiefs won 64-36, Hamilton 2006: Chiefs won 29-9, Perth
Teams:
Western Force: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau (vice-captain), 9 James Stannard, 8 Matt Hodgson, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fava, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 David Pusey, 3 Troy Takiari, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Pek Cowan. Replacements: 16 Luke Holmes, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Richard Brown, 20 Chris O'Young, 21 Scott Daruda, 22 Dane Haylett-Petty.
Chiefs: 15 Mils Muliaina (captain), 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jamie Nutbrown, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Kevin O'Neill, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Ben May, 2 Tom Willis, 1 Simms Davison. Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Ben Castle, 18 Jay Williams, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 David Bason, 21 Dwayne Sweeney, 22 Sosene Anesi.
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa) Touch judges: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), D Mitchelmore (Australia) Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia) Assessor: Andrew Cole (Australia), Stuart Beissel (New Zealand)
http://msn.foxsports.com/rugby/story...rce-vs.-Chiefs
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give us the number down the Bowlo then - we can all have some fun after the match
