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Michael Foley’s British and Irish Lions gamble finally paying dividends for surging Western Force
- IAIN PAYTEN
- THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
- APRIL 07, 2014 11:59AM
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QUEENSLAND REDS V WESTERN FORCE: MATCH NEWS REPORT
The Western Force have edged a thriller against the Queensland Reds, winning 32-29 in a high scoring competition.
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Michael Foley looks on during the Force’s round six win over the Chiefs in Perth. Source: Getty Images
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THE last time the Force welcomed the Waratahs to Perth, Michael Foley grew a tail and horns. It was a rough week.
Rewind to June last year and as the first Aussie province on the tee against the touring British and Irish Lions, Foley made the contentious call to split his squad up.There’d be a half-strength team to play the Lions on Wednesday and another team to play the Waratahs the following Sunday.That decision made Foley the devil incarnate for the week, with scorn poured on him and the club from both home and abroad.The heat came hottest from abroad, with blustering ex-Lions players and coaches, and an indignant travelling UK media, screaming like banshees about disrespect and all-but laying the death of the Lions tour at Foley’s feet.Australian types wondered why the likes of Kyle Godwin weren’t put in a fully laden Force team to give the Lions a red-hot crack.When the Lions won the tour match comfortably, and then the Waratahs did likewise in the second game, Foley’s decision drew even more derision.The whole exercise, it appeared, had been pointless.
An understrength Force was thumped by the British and Irish Lions at Pattersons Stadium in Perth.Source: News Limited
Fast forward 10 months and with the Waratahs arriving in Perth again this week to meet a Force side in strong form, Foley’s point looks to have finally hopped off the overnight train.It could cause a few Poms to choke on their marmalade toast, but the question must now be asked: did Foley actually do the right thing in June last year?The Force claimed a record fourth consecutive win against the Reds on Saturday night in Brisbane, the most recent of an impressive run of wins this year.It followed wins over the reigning champion Chiefs and Rebels at home, and a tough away triumph over the Highlanders in New Zealand.The Force not only set a new club record for most consecutive wins, they’ve already equalled their entire win tally from 2013 and need only another four wins from 10 rounds to beat their best ever season result of seven victories in 2008.That Firepowered Force era — including names like Giteau, Mitchell, Pocock, Ioane and Cannon — finished 7th and 8th in 07-08 but never made the finals.
QUEENSLAND REDS V WESTERN FORCE: MATCH HIGHLIGHTS6:11
Catch all the highlights from the Reds game against the Western Force at Suncorp Stadium.
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The 2014 Force are now sitting pretty in fifth and no doubt growing in confidence about their chances of staying in the playoffs mix.With 10 wins needed to make the finals last season, repeatedly burned tipsters from Durban to Dunedin would be now wary of saying the Force can’t pick up another six wins in ten games.So where does the Lions decision come into things?Foley never explained it in full but the goal was, by all accounts, to divide and conquer the Waratahs in the Sunday game. Numerous close losses had masked the gains of the Force campaign but notching a sky blue scalp in the second last game of the year would be a reference point for the off-season.“We’ve continued to take big steps as a team this season and it’s important that we put together a strong performance leading into the mid-year break,” Foley said in a Force release when announcing that Sunday team.As it turned out, the second side fluffed its lines and a Waratahs B-team won easily.They got their scalp for the summer in the end, however, when instead of a NSW shorn of its Test stars, the Force toppled the finals-bound Brumbies in the last round, and in doing so, probably ruined ACT’s title hopes by denying them the minor premiership.
Michael Foley and the Western Force are flying high after four wins on the trot. Source: News Limited
That confidence has clearly served as a good base for the Force’s pre-season work and beyond but the Lions week drama played its part as well.By declaring to the world they valued building for 2014 as much as playing the Lions, the club and Foley took hellish heat but it signalled aspirational intent and, no doubt, galvanised the hell out of them.They aimed for bigger things over the horizon, and though there were rumours, no whispers of internal dissent about the split-team tactic emerged from Perth. All were on board.Take another look at the XV who beat the Reds on Saturday night and you’ll see nine of the starting side beaten by the Waratahs in Perth last year, with skipper Matt Hodgson, who was on the bench after backing up from the Lions game.These were the guys who willingly swallowed the bitter pill of not getting a once-in-a-lifetime game against the Lions last year.This week a win over the Waratahs can have them halfway towards a different milestone match: the club’s first ever final.
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