Force Downed by Hurricanes

[Darren]

The Emirates Western Force had the lion’s share of possession in their clash against the Hurricanes on Friday night but luck certainly wasn’t in their favour, nor was there any compassion from the New Zealanders who capitalised on any loose play to record a bonus point win.

The final 19-46 score line reflected the attacking astuteness of the Wellington side that ran in six tries to one, including three to young halfback TJ Perenara who was making his first start in FxPro Super Rugby.

The last of Perenara’s tries came in the 49th minute and was the result of a wicked bounce that eluded the clutches of Emirates Western Force back Alfie Mafi to land in the lap of the on running scrumhalf.

“You can control a couple of things, attitude and preparation, but you can’t control the bounce of the ball… at the same time you create your opportunities don’t you?” Emirates Western Force coach Richard Graham said.

Graham expressed his dissatisfaction in the outcome of the match, in particular the price paid for turnovers and a general lack of finishing by the Perth side when in strong positions.

While the club has yet to find a win in the opening three rounds, Graham is upbeat about the remainder of the campaign which continues with a road double against the Waratahs and Rebels over the next fortnight.

“We control how we front up, we control how we prepare and it is a good opportunity to go away as a group, go on the road together and get some results,” said Graham.

“I thought the way that we approached the game tonight was the right approach and our aim was to try and go through them and I thought we did that well at times… we created a lot of opportunities but didn’t finish them.

“I can always see the application of the group in trying to put forward what we are rehearsing during the week, but that result certainly wasn’t the outcome we were chasing this evening.”

With the temperature still hovering in the 30’s as the game kicked off it was the Hurricanes who applied the heat to the home side in the opening quarter of the half as they raced out to a 10 point lead after just 10 minutes.

Showing they had learned a valuable lesson following last week’s match, the Emirates Western Force gained good field position and brought themselves back in to the contest with some astute attacking play of their own.

Playing in the No8 jersey this week loose forward Matt Hodgson was his usual hard working self and helped his side back into the contest when he crossed for the club’s only try of the night. James Stannard converted and the margin was just three.

The West Aussies could have taken the lead after winning two penalties within kicking distance but Stannard narrowly missed. He did though bring the Emirates Western Force back to level pegging with a successful attempt in front of goal.

The final four minutes of the opening half however belonged to the Hurricanes as they added another two tries to their total and within a blink of an eye the margin had blown out to the biggest of the night.

Graham made several changes at the half time interval with some tactical substitutions as well as a few forced injury adjustments and cleared his bench as the game wore on.

Another successful penalty attempt from Stannard saw the Emirates Western Force trail by just nine with just a touch over 30 minutes to play, however, as they had done in the opening half, the visitors enjoyed a purple patch late in the half to score another two tries and put the result beyond doubt.

Emirates Western Force skipper David Pocock said the group was committed to the style of play they’ve been implementing and had faith in each other to work their way into some winning form.

“We went into the game really clear on how we wanted to play and early on it was working and we were down in their 22 but failed to turn that pressure into points. They’re a team that thrives on turnovers and a couple of times we turned the ball over or gave it to them on a kick and our chase line wasn’t good enough or we were falling off tackles,” Pocock said.

“As a group we’ll hang tight. We have two games away and it’s a good opportunity for us to get tighter as a group and work hard and improve on what we’re doing on the field.”

Star lock Nathan Sharpe played strongly in his milestone game as he became the first player to reach 150 FxPro Super Rugby caps in the history of the SANZAR competition.

2012 FxPro Super Rugby – Week 3
Friday, 9 March 2012 at nib Stadium, Perth

Emirates Western Force 19 (Tries: M. Hodgson; Con J. Stannard 1/1; Pen J. Stannard 4/6)
Hurricanes 46 (Tries: T. Perenara 3, C Ngatai, A Taylor, J Eaton; Con D Kirkpatrick 2/2, B Barrett 3/4; Pen D Kirkpatrick 1/1, B Barrett 1/1)

Emirates Western Force: 15.Cameron Shepherd, 14.Nick Cummins, 13.Pat Dellit, 12.Rory Sidey, 11.Napolioni Nalaga, 10.James Stannard, 9.Brett Sheehan, 8.Matt Hodgson, 7.David Pocock, 6.Richard Brown, 5.Nathan Sharpe, 4.Toby Lynn, 3.Salesi Ma'afu, 2.Nathan Charles, 1.Kieran Longbottom; Reserves: 16.Ben Whittaker, 17.Pekahou Cowan, 18.Sam Wykes; 19.Angus Cottrell, 20.Justin Turner, 21.Ben Seymour, 22.Alfie Mafi

Hurricanes: 15.Andre Taylor, 14.Cory Jane, 13.Conrad Smith, 12.Tim Bateman, 11.Julian Savea, 10.Beauden Barrett, 9.TJ Perenara, 8.Victor Vito, 7.Jack Lam, 6.Faifili Levave, 5.Jason Eaton, 4.Jeremy Thrush, 3.Jeff Allen, 2.Dane Coles, 1.Ben May; Reserves: 16.Motu Matu'u; 17.Michael Bent; 18.James Broadhurst, 19.Brad Shields, 20.Chris Eaton, 21.Daniel Kirkpatrick; 22.Charlie Ngatai

By the clock
Min Score
5 Beauden Barrett Penalty Goal 0 - 3
9 TJ Perenara Try 0 - 8
10 Beauden Barrett Conversion 0 - 10
19 Matt Hodgson Try 5 - 10
20 James Stannard Conversion 7 - 10
23 James Stannard Missed PG 7 - 10
27 James Stannard Missed PG 7 - 10
33 James Stannard Penalty Goal 10 - 10
35 TJ Perenara Try 10 - 15
36 Beauden Barrett Conversion 10 - 17
38 Andre Taylor Try 10 - 22
39 Beauden Barrett Missed Con 10 - 22
47 James Stannard Penalty Goal 13 - 22
49 TJ Perenara Try 13 - 27
50 Beauden Barrett Conversion 13 - 29
57 James Stannard Penalty Goal 16 - 29
60 James Stannard Penalty Goal 19 - 29
63 Daniel Kirkpatrick Penalty Goal 19 - 32
75 Jason Eaton Try 19 - 37
76 Daniel Kirkpatrick Conversion 19 - 39
80 Charlie Ngatai Try 19 - 44
80 Daniel Kirkpatrick Conversion 19 - 46

[SNOB]

Nothing from RG yet? does that mean he's waiting for RWA to accept his resignation?

[GIGS20]

If he praises anything from the team in that performance he deserves to be shot.

The Reds, after beating us went on to conduct a string of interviews which essentially said "we're not happy with that, we might have won but it's not the way we want to play" the force said "we're happy with our improvement, we didn't win but we're playing the style of game we want"

Guess which organisation has a performance culture?

[SNOB]

The Farce?

[Darren]

[TrevorM]

“You can control a couple of things, attitude and preparation, but you can’t control the bounce of the ball… at the same time you create your opportunities don’t you?” Emirates Western Force coach Richard Graham said.

Graham expressed his dissatisfaction in the outcome of the match, in particular the price paid for turnovers and a general lack of finishing by the Perth side when in strong positions.

While the club has yet to find a win in the opening three rounds, Graham is upbeat about the remainder of the campaign which continues with a road double against the Waratahs and Rebels over the next fortnight.

“We control how we front up, we control how we prepare and it is a good opportunity to go away as a group, go on the road together and get some results,” said Graham.

“I thought the way that we approached the game tonight was the right approach and our aim was to try and go through them and I thought we did that well at times… we created a lot of opportunities but didn’t finish them.

“I can always see the application of the group in trying to put forward what we are rehearsing during the week, but that result certainly wasn’t the outcome we were chasing this evening.”

Enough, Mr Graham.
Stop rubbing the salt in.

It's bad enough, having forked over another 435 dollars, to have to sit through things like last night's debacle, so go easy on the delusive and squirm-inducing pap, will 'ya?

[SinBin]

It takes me about 8 seconds to grab another cold beer during the game - about the same time it takes Jacob Peyper to set a scum!

[SNOB]

It takes me about 8 seconds to grab another cold beer during the game - about the same time it takes Jacob Peyper to set a scum!

you were in the right place!

[Tazzmania]

Lets stop all the doom and gloom, I was t the match last night and watched the replay this morning with a clear head.

While not in the caliber of the other Super 15 teams, as we do not have as many naturally gifted players that can play with the level of instinct to win when you have little possession and terrortory, what I did see is players like Matt Hodgson giving 120%, Dave Pockock the same and some other plyers not that far behind.

Our real weakness is 10 and Stannard is a makeshift flyhalf that is trying his best to do it for the team, for as much as he tries is not the answer, but without any 10's being out there now we need to get behind the boys and give them as much support as we can, they are not leaving anything on the field.

While we got thumped I feel we played better than the previous two matches, and are heading in the right direction, Hodgson, Pockock, Dellit and Cummings were stand outs, and gave 110%, good on them, and we thank them for it. Cotterell seems a great find and gives the mongrel we need in the pack.

With a better flyhalf we may turn the corner, but lets stop being negative before it affects the players and they start thinking about looking elsewhere to play.

All those ragging RG,and the team, name a better coach and players currently available, or better still tell us your rugby credentials that give you the ability to analyse and critise him and the team.

[SNOB]

Lets stop all the doom and gloom, I was t the match last night and watched the replay this morning with a clear head.

While not in the caliber of the other Super 15 teams, as we do not have as many naturally gifted players that can play with the level of instinct to win when you have little possession and terrortory, what I did see is players like Matt Hodgson giving 120%, Dave Pockock the same and some other plyers not that far behind.

Our real weakness is 10 and Stannard is a makeshift flyhalf that is trying his best to do it for the team, for as much as he tries is not the answer, but without any 10's being out there now we need to get behind the boys and give them as much support as we can, they are not leaving anything on the field.

While we got thumped I feel we played better than the previous two matches, and are heading in the right direction, Hodgson, Pockock, Dellit and Cummings were stand outs, and gave 110%, good on them, and we thank them for it. Cotterell seems a great find and gives the mongrel we need in the pack.

With a better flyhalf we may turn the corner, but lets stop being negative before it affects the players and they start thinking about looking elsewhere to play.

All those ragging RG,and the team, name a better coach and players currently available, or better still tell us your rugby credentials that give you the ability to analyse and critise him and the team.

So you think that we didn't score try's because of Stannard?
If you think that's acceptable you are deluding yourself.
Posted via Mobile Device

[theforceguy]

Our real weakness is 10 and Stannard

No Tazzy definitely not only Stannard's fault. I saw various occasions last night where the ball went past Stannard on the way to the wing but then there was either a forward in the backline that goy hold of the ball and ran it back into the traffic or if it did manage to get past the forwatds it ended up with Pat Dellit who thought he was Superman and could run through 2 defenders every time he got the ball He did not pass it once the whole game.
The structure is shit there are to many forwards loathing in the back-line when we try to attack and to many backs that think they can do it on their own There is no team play and no discipline. No one has ever consistently won rugby games with individual play It is a team effort that covers the weak points of individuals in the team and create an overall structure of power
I agree that the kicking is worse than U15 players but that is not Stannard's fault.

[Quins]

With a better flyhalf we may turn the corner, but lets stop being negative before it affects the players and they start thinking about looking elsewhere to play.

All those ragging RG,and the team, name a better coach and players currently available, or better still tell us your rugby credentials that give you the ability to analyse and critise him and the team.

This forum provides a vital mental health service for fans to express frustrations, please don't restrict this outlet to just rugby professionals, it's the average punter that is suffering depression the most!!

[theforceguy]

All those ragging RG,and the team, name a better coach and players currently available, or better still tell us your rugby credentials that give you the ability to analyse and critise him and the team.

The first application is in already

Application for role of interim coach of Western Force

[Jambooi]

The material is there. RG does not know how to utilise it. I said it a year ago I say it again. We should have a fresh coach from outside with new ideas and not just a continuation of JM. 5 years - same game plan!

With 13 games ahead it could become a long season for the players as well as the supporters.

But lets be positive. They will wake up and they will get going. And we will celebrate a 9th place this year (better than the 15 they are heading for now.)

[welshrugbyfan]

We need a 9/10 combo of two quality players.

Pick a team, I don't give a rats arse who they are present or past. If they're/were any good they've got a good 9/10 combo.

This same story has been going on for years.

Pocock you are truly amazing to have not punched any of your own backs in the face last night. How him and some of the other forwards busted their arses in the grunt room to grab that ball only to have it continually kicked back to the Hurricanes was freakin killing me.

Stannards a half back, he's just keeping his finger in the dyke to stop the flood, so you can't blame him.

Get on the phone and spend some money.

Tackle practice monday morning 7am as well.