The Waratahs showed glimpses of the attacking spark their fans have been waiting for in their runaway 49 -13 victory over the Western Force.
Unleashing their backs in the second half, the Tahs had too much firepower (see what I did there?) for their opponents as they outscored the Force six tries to one.
The Match
As referee Rohan Hoffman blew his whistle to start the match I gave a sigh and hoped this wouldn’t turn into another error-ridden, stodgy affair that so many of all-Aussie matchups have been in the past but with a silly penalty at the breakdown conceded by Will Skelton after one minute I wasn’t about to get my hopes up.
Force flyhalf Peter Grant converted the easy shot to give the Force an early 3-0 lead.
My notes from the match show that I was pleased with some early movement by the Tahs displaying slick hands and deception with multiple receiving options – raising hopes that they might just be coming back into form. But another breakdown penalty (this time young Jack Dempsey coming in from the side) provided the Force’s reliable shot-taker Peter Grant an opportunity to extend their lead, but he proceeded to embarrass himself with a dud kick.
Both sides were still playing for field position and there were some useful tactical kicks with solid chases until in the tenth minute when Force winger Semisi Masirewa was guilty of a dangerous challenge on the young Tah’s fullback Andrew Kellaway, in the air.
It was an easy decision for the officials and Masirewa received a yellow card—no arguments from the Force: a clear yellow. From the resulting penalty Tahs’ flyhalf Bernard Foley piloted the Gilbert through the posts for a three-pointer, leveling the scores at 3-3.
The Force took care to minimise their numerical disadvantage whilst Masirewa was in the sin bin, but the Tahs were not to be denied. After some good work from centre Kurtley Beale, returning Tahs’ winger Rob Horne crossed for a good try—no doubt bringing a small smile to the dial of Wallaby coach Michael Cheika.
The five-pointer was converted by Bernard Foley and the Tahs were now in front 10-3 at the 20 minute mark. It was a just reward as they had started to play some promising rugby.
But a penalty against their skipper Michael Hooper for leaving his feet allowed Peter Grant to bridge the gap at 25 minutes : 10-6 to the Tahs. The unseasonably warm evening in Perth seemed to cause some scrappy play as both teams had handling difficulties. The Force were determined to keep in touch and battle manfully at each breakdown, but neither backrow was dominating the contest.
The battle for possession was willing and continued unabated until the shadows of half-time when Tahs’ halfback, Nick Phipps, darted from the base of a ruck and put the ball down under the posts for a try. Foley converted easily, and so the two sides went to the sheds with the score favouring the visiting Waratahs 17-6.
To this point fullback Dane Haylett-Petty was probably the best for the Force and Phipps provided high energy for the Tahs. The Force’s 2016 try-scoring difficulties are well-documented and one wonders how Haylett-Petty would go in a side with more attacking flair.
As the match resumed a simple crooked lineout throw gifted great field position to to the visitors and they eventually forced a holding-on penalty against Force flanker Angus Cottrell. This allowed Bernard Foley to kick the penalty goal and take the score to 20-6.
Promising rookie hooker Harry Scoble ran on in the 46th minute to make his Super Rugby debut bringing a sense of excitement to many keen armchair selectors. Dean Mumm also came on for the Waratahs to replace injured Jack Dempsey who had been in everything again and given all he had. He does not look out of place in this company and forms a strong, balanced Waratahs’ backrow with Hooper and the dynamic Jed Holloway.
Both teams struggled to find continuity for a while and we did not have much to talk about until the 52nd minute when Scoble latched on to the ball at the back of a driving maul and scored close to the posts. The try on debut for the young ranga hooker was converted by Ben Tapuai to reduce the visitor’s lead to 20-13.
But bang! Three minutes later Israel Folau became the highest-ever try scorer for the Waratahs, scoring his 30th try after some rapid recycling and fine lead up work with a notable contribution from Tahs’ hooker Hugh Roach. It was duly converted by Bernard Foley and the score was now 27-13. Ominously, the passes were starting to stick for the NSW boys and their running lines looked sharper than we have seen in recent matches.
We were now at the dreaded 60 minute mark: a moment that has come to be feared for Force fans in 2016. Would the Force start to tire and fall off tackles?
A poor clearing kick to the open side led to some good interplay by the Tahs with Foley passing to Phipps who found the impressively fast Reece Robinson on the wing. He finished like a good winger should but Foley was unable to convert leaving the score at 32-13.
The coaches took the opportunity to run some fresh legs on and Tatafu Polota-Nau made his return from injury replacing Hugh Roach who had performed well. 2016 recruit Angus Ta’avao replaced the impressive young Tom Robertson while the Force ran on Rory Walton for Steve Mafi, Ryan Louwrens for Alby Mathewson and, somewhat surprisingly, Brynard Stander for their talisman skipper Matt Hodgson.
A simple offside penalty against an over-eager Walton allowed Bernard Foley to extend the Tahs’ lead to 35-13 at the 67 minute mark. NSW were occasionally stringing together some phases and soon enough the Force ran out of defenders as Angus Ta’avao backed up and took an infield pass to score in a handy position, allowing Foley to increase the Tahs lead to 42-13 after 70 minutes.
The Force refused to lie down and continued to compete and (mostly) complete their tackles but gaps out wide were appearing and it seemed a matter of time until the Waratahs would exploit them. No.8 Jed Holloway showed his running ability in the last minute of play to score the final try which was converted by Foley and referee Rohan Hoffman blew full-time with the score at 49-13 in favour of the Waratahs over the Western Force.
And so the Tahs get a bonus point win and scored six tries in the process, most of them well-taken and involving multiple off-the-ball running options. Their stuttering start to the season might be behind them now but there is still a lot to be done. I’m sure they will be very interested in the Brumbies-Crusaders result later today.
The Game Changer
I wouldn’t say any one moment changed this match but at 54 minutes the Force were in touch 13-20. However they couldn’t consolidate and two minutes later Folau scored the first of four further tries that did change the game. But the biggest change of all was the increased confidence in the ability of the Waratahs to run with the ball and to actually score tries without committing errors.
The G&GR MOTM
It was a willing battle up front with both packs happily smashing into each other at every opportunity but the worry for the Force was always going to be that the Tahs would get the ball out to their backline stars. the 10-12-13 combination with added contributions from 11-14 and 15 posed too many threats for the Force to get their collective defensive brains around. MOTM shared between Bernard Foley and Kurtley Beale. These two breathed some life into the Tahs’ 2016 campaign and will need to produce more of the same from here on in.
Wallaby Watch
No one harmed their chances tonight. Dane Haylett-Petty was better than good and we need to see him in a better side. Adam Coleman continued his good form but needs to start adding stronger running to be considered a strong chance. All the backrowers were very good and the good running lines of the Tahs’ backs would have brought smiles to the faces of Cheika and Larkham.
The Details
[one_half last=”no”]
Waratahs 49
Tries: R Horne (20′), N Phipps (39′), I Folau (56′), R Robinson (60′), A Ta’avao (70′), J Holloway (79′)
Conv: B Foley 5 (21′, 40′, 57′, 71′, 80′)
Pens: B Foley 3 (12′, 41′, 67′)
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Western Force 13
Tries: H Scoble (53′)
Conv: B Tapuai (54′)
Pens: P Grant 2 (1′,25′)
[/one_half]
Cards
Yellow: Semisi Masirewa (10′)
Photos courtesy of “Delphy” – thank you
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