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A plucky Force outfit have slumped to another defeat on Kiwi soil losing 34-28 to the Hurricanes. The Force had the chance to take the game at the death, but as has been so often the case this year, weren’t able to go that final 2 metres over the Hurricane’s line.
The Force drew first blood in the 2nd minute with Cameron Shepherd extending his lead on the Force’s all time highest scorers list.
The both teams looked good early on and it was the Hurricanes who crossed the chalk after some nifty interplay between Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith. Cruden’s conversion made the score 7-3.
The Force forwards put on a barnstorming display making constant ground through a lacklustre Hurricanes defence. The men in blue were awarded for some excellent running by captain Nathan Sharpe and stand-in stand-off James Stannard with a second Shepherd penalty.
The Force added to the tally again a few minutes later with Smith falling just short of the line only for the ball to be brought wide for Sidey to cross for his first try in Force colours. Shepherd’s conversion was good, taking the score to 13-7.
The Hurricanes added a penalty of their own through Cruden, but not long after the Force were in again with Cameron Shepherd finishing off a great build up by the Force forwards. The conversion was unsuccessful leaving the score at 18-10, where it remained until the two teams went into the sheds at halftime.
The Hurricanes came into the second half with a bit more fire in their bellies than in the first. Ten minutes of sustained pressure paid off for the home team as Nonu crashed over for his second from a 5m scrum.
Yet the Force soldiered on and re-extended their lead with a 3rd try to Ben McCalman; Stannard and Smith working brilliantly in the lead up. Cameron Shepherd’s conversion saw the score go to 25-17.
The two teams traded penalties in the 63rd and 67th minutes.
Two late tries in the 72nd and 76th minute to the Hurricanes, an all too familiar story for the Force, ended up sealing the deal. Full time score 34-28.
The Good
While we didn't win the match, the team played with more guts than I think we've seen all year. The forwards were excellent, led by arguably the man of the match in Nathan Sharpe. He ran the line-out seamlessly and made a lot of metres trucking the ball up. The metres made by mauling from line-outs was also sensational. Probably the best effort in the maul I have ever seen from the Force. If only they could've got just one more going from that final line-out we would be cheering right now. The scrum, breakdown and general forward defence were all positives too.
How about that James Stannard hey? Stannard was a gun on attack, consistently taking the ball to the line before passing. He made good metres when he ran it himself, he kicked fairly well, and his mixed bag of passing kept the Hurricanes defence guessing. I know I'm not the only one who will want to see more of the same. Extend Stannard's contract for another 3 years. Pat Dellit, Cameron Shepherd and David Smith were also standout backs.
The Bad
For all of the good, we didn't win. It was a game that was ours for the taking and we threw it away in the final 10 minutes. You can talk about the positives until the cows come home but until you put someone to bed it is a bit meaningless. In terms of individual players not performing or aspects of play in the game I don't think there is anywhere we can lay the blame for this loss. Our defence was generally good but those two passes out of the tackle by Cruden should not have been allowed to end up in tries.
I guess you could say we didn't make the most of our opportunities, letting a number of plays that were one pass from a try go dead. That would be fair enough. Given that we came into the game with the odds stacked enormously against us I thought it generally quite good.
The Ugly
No really ugly. That last killed ball was immensely frustrating, but what can you do? Thankfully it didn't look like any of the Force players copped any serious injuries.
Man of the Match
The Hurricanes didn't inspire as a team. Aaron Cruden was sharp on attack but let himself down big time on defence. Ma'a Nonu picked up a double to his credit but he also had a fairly patchy game. Chris Eaton had a fairly good game and was among the Hurricanes best. But I think Conrad Smith would have to take the cake for best player from the home side. He ran well. He tackled well. He was instrumental in two of the Canes' four tries. Good effort.
The Force, on the other hand, had a number of star performances. Sam Wykes had another excellent game. Nathan Charles impressed on 65 Roses day. McCalman, Hodgson and Pocock were their usual industrious selves. Swanepoel had a fairly decent run on debut. Stannard was a treasure to watch; it was great to finally see our attack look dangerous. Our back three and Pat Dellit also performed well with the space afforded to them by the forwards. But as I said earlier, you can't go past Nathan Sharpe for a man of the match.
Western Force game rating
We played well. It was unfortunate that we didn't win because we certainly deserved to. That final bloody 10 minutes though. It's always funny how the Western Force game rating drops a few bars between the 70th and 80th minutes. In general, it was a solid effort from the home side. It wasn't a win but the way we played no doubt had the bookies squirming. I know TQ1 loves a good squirm. I'd give that performance a B-.
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Originally Posted by jono
