Author: ForceFan
ForceFan
ForceFan grew up with Aussie Football in Melbourne but progressively has switched codes due to his employment in the Mining Industry. Being surrounded by Kiwis, Saffas and Pommes, rugby tests always seemed like a good excuse for a drink with mates. Real turning point was the 2003 RWC with the semi win over the Kiwis and the spectacle of the Final. Has followed the Western Force since inception and supportive of the development and standards shown by the Western Force under Michael Foley, David Wessels and Kevin Foote and the strong leadership of Captain Matt Hodgson.
This game was effectively won with the Rebels scoring their two tries in the first 23 minutes with fast, selective defence and out-muscling their opposition at the breakdown. The Rebels 57 ruck engagements in the first ten minutes, compared to the Force’s 18, shows just how dominant the Rebels were right from the opening whistle. The Force stayed in touch with an opportunistic try by Alby Mathewson immediately prior to half-time. As for the game against the Brumbies, the Force had all of the possession (71%) and territory (76%) in the second half but critical errors stifled the Force’s forward momentum and poor…
The Waratahs earned their 23-5 win over the hapless, injury ravaged Reds with a better running game (624m v 309m) in an error-filled encounter at Suncorp Stadium. The amazing aspect of this score line was that the Reds were still in the game at the 60 minute mark. The Reds made 15 handling errors, missed 28 tackles and gave away 12 penalties. The Waratahs made 18 handling errors, missed 19 tackles and gave away 19 penalties and 1 Yellow Card. The battle at the breakdown was one of the more entertaining aspects of this match. Remember: Early means 1st or…
A clinical effort by the Brumbies making better use of the width of the pitch and getting the ball to their impressive ball runners. Great defensive effort to negate the Western Force’s ball retention (4 x 20 phases), particularly in the 2nd half. Western Force struggled to turn sustained effort, and improved set piece performance, into points despite having 75% possession and 82% territory in the 2nd half. Came away from Canberra without even a bonus point loss in going down 27-15. Remember: Early means 1st or 2nd AFTER the ball carrier has been tackled and brought to ground. Impact…
Congratulations to a severely depleted and traumatised Reds grinding out an 18-6 win over a disappointing Western Force in Brisbane. The wrap-ups by Coach Michael Foley – “We were outmuscled at the breakdown and murdered at the set piece” and Captain Sam Wykes – “No excuses – weren’t up to it tonight” – says it all. This was a very difficult game to watch in replay to collect the ruck statistics. Remember: Early means 1st or 2nd AFTER the ball carrier has been tackled and brought to ground. Impact means active engagement: strong physical contact, changed shape of ruck, clean-out,…
In 2015 it appears that most rugby sites are using the same SANZAR individual player statistics. The phone app Vodacom Rugby Stats appears to have some major differences, but is still the only site which provides running totals for the SXV season. None of these sources provide any useful Ruck statistics. Prior to the EOY Tests last year I became frustrated by this lack of Ruck Stats and decided to gather some Ruck Stats of my own. RugbyReg published these ruck statistics for the Wallabies’ EOY tour under a G&GR Bureau of Statistics heading on 3 December 2014. In 2015,…