Force go down to the Cheetahs 10 - 19 at nib in Perth

[Darren]

The Emirates Western Force has fallen to the Cheetahs, 19-10, in their opening home match of the season at the newly-developed nib Stadium tonight.

In the shadow of the towering new eastern stand, the Force created numerous opportunities throughout the match but was unable to capitalise, with each side scoring one try apiece.

The Western Australians took a one-point lead into half time and, despite scoring first through a penalty goal in the second term, were unable to carry it into a win over a determined Cheetahs outfit.

Head Coach Michael Foley said the Emirates Western Force needed to improve on converting possession onto the scoreboard.

“I thought we defended particularly well at times but we had to because we gave them a lot of possession to use,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and no-one in our team avoids that. We work hard and we’ll continue to work hard. There’ve been some positive signs this season and, again, some positive signs tonight.

“That was a game we could have won and should have won. Take nothing away from the Cheetahs, I’ve got the greatest respect for them, but we did enough in that game to show how we had to play and we went away from things that we’ve done well in the last couple of games. We realise that’s something we need to continually work on come next week.

“We don’t need to change a hell of a lot; we just need to be better at what we do.”

The Force again started positively, dominating territory and possession in the opening stages of the game with two penalty attempts inside the first 20 minutes from former Cheetahs flyhalf Sias Ebersohn narrowly waved away.

Instead it was the Bloemfontein side that posted the opening points of the match through the boot of playmaker Riaan Smit with a 25th-minute penalty goal, on the back of continual phase play inside the Force’s quarter.

The home side was quick to respond with the first try of the match just before the half hour mark when a blind Cheetahs offload only made it as far as the retreating Toby Lynn. The Force lock knocked the ball into the hands of Chris Alcock, who spun it wide through Kyle Godwin and Angus Cottrell, allowing Winston Stanley to dive over in the corner.

Ebersohn’s sideline conversion gave his side a 7-3 lead before Smit’s second penalty goal reduced the margin to one point at the break.

Smit posted another two penalties to replacement Force centre Jayden Hayward’s one in the second stanza to allow his side to hold a 12-10 lead with eight minutes remaining.

While the Force continued to battle away to overturn the deficit, a loose ball toed through by the Cheetahs popped up for winger Willie Le Roux to cross for the visitors in the dying minutes, with Smit’s straightforward conversion sealing the final 19-10 score line.

The Emirates Western Force will next face the Waratahs in Sydney on Sunday, 31 March.

2013 Super Rugby – Week 6
Saturday, 23 March 2013 at nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 6.45pm
*
Cheetahs 19 (Willie le Roux try; Riaan Smith 1/1 conversion, 4/4 penalty goals) defeated Emirates Western Force 10 (Winston Stanley try; Sias Ebersohn 1/1 conversion, 0/2 penalty goals; Jayden Hayward 1/2 penalty goals)*

Emirates Western Force

1. Pek Cowan (c), 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Salesi Ma'afu, 4. Toby Lynn, 5. Hugh McMeniman, 6. Angus Cottrell, 7. Chris Alcock, 8. Richard Brown, 9. Alby Mathewson, 10. Sias Ebersohn, 11. Alfie Mafi, 12. Kyle Godwin, 13. Winston Stanley, 14. Patrick Dellit, 15. Will Tupou. Res: 16. Heath Tessmann, 17. Tetera Faulkner, 18. Sam Wykes, 19. Ben McCalman, 20. Matt Hodgson, 21. Mick Snowden, 22. Jayden Hayward.

Coach: Michael Foley

*

Cheetahs

1. Trevor Nyakane, 2. Adrian Strauss (c), 3. Lourens Adriaanse, 4. Lood de Jager, 5. Francois Uys, 6. Heinrich Brussow, 7. Lappies Labuschagne, 8. Philip van der Walt, 9. Sarel Pretorius, 10. Riaan Smit, 11. Raymond Rhule, 12. Robert Ebersohn, 13. Johan Sadie, 14. Willie le Roux, 15. Hennie Daniller. Res: 16. Ryno Barnes, 17. Coenie Oosthuisen, 18. Rynhard Landman, 19. Boom Prinsloo, 20. Piet van Zyl, 21. Burton Francis, 22. Ryno Benjamin.

Coach: Naka Drotske

Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Referee: Garratt Williamson

[GIGS20]

let's go with 65 minute pi f good hard close rugby followed by 15 minutes of 2012
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[Jules]

So disappointed! The parking ticket I got on my return to the car just topped the night off.
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[DarthMoose]

Members bar is great... Compared to a parking ticket... (Only)
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[Quins]

Good stadium. Sh#t rugby. No surprise.

[AndyS]

Same shit result, the price they pay (yet again) for kicking away possession rather than trusting themselves to run with it or teammates to provide support. They should be making the opposition earn every scrap of possession they get, not just hand it over without effort. You never see the Crusaders do that - they make you bleed for every scrap of ball.

[SNOB]

How many kicks in the last 15 mins? Same as last year to a T.
Very disappointing, after the first half I was feeling relatively confident.
Make them all sit down a watch the last half time and again till they learn. Which could be a long time.

[eleypinkbit]

Didn't think members bar was open yet. Where is it?
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[Nic]

I think the expectation for them to win their first home game tonight was too much pressure, particularly after coming off an upset against the Reds.
The first half was scrappy, but the second half was played with no brains or direction.

Use your friggin brains when you gain possession and don't kick the ball away!!!!
Do it for your fans who show up every home game and hand over their hard-earned money to watch you play.

[Garfiep]

Very disappointing, and yet so predictable. After 7 years we deserve better. Same mistakes and errors year after year. Stadium look the business, but you have to wonder when or if the team will play up to the standards of the facility.

[SNOB]

By the way "Who was the captain?"
Toby Lynn seemed to be the main man talking to the ref even going as far as tapping him on the shoulder and starting a conversation. Just seem weird to me.

[GIGS20]

The ref didn't seem too fussed about controlling the game, so was probably chummy with everyone on the field.

To have two fights start after a general warning to both captains and nobody marched shows that the ref was pissweak and didnt want to act at all.

[travelling_gerry]

My thoughts :-

The new seats - fantastic.

The new blondie ground announcer - great! She even wears a Force jersey and fills it quiet nicely.

The new screens - bloody fantastic. ( and the graphics are damm good too)

Westie - he appears to have shrunk, and is not as proactive and cheeky as the last one.

The sound system - hope they haven't sent them the cheque for it yet. Its crap!

The refs- they just seem to come to Perth to piss off the Sea of Blue!

The players - good endeavor until 65 min and they went back to 2012.

[todd4]

I am just so dissapointed, I can't beleive how many useless farking kicks there were, what was the use of those up and unders that seemed to just go staight up in the air and come down only a few metres away?? why not just hand the ball to the opposition? and all those amateur attemps at chip kicks? Why does the outside centre kick the ball whenever it comes to him? he should be running onto the ball at pace and looking to set up his winger. There's a need for good positional kicking during a game and it's usually the 10 that does it, Meehan and Fowler really need to work on this aspect of the game.

That game was theirs for the taking and as usual they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I'm gutted.

[Nic]

Hopefully we can stay 3rd in the Aussie conference after tonight.
Can't see the Rebels beating the Sharkies in Durban.
If we can beat the woeful Horrortah's next week, I will be somewhat satisfied.