The Western Force turned on the power and even a little style to down the Reds 45-19 in Perth. On a perfect night for rugby, they ran in five tries to three to be comfortable winners.
The home team set up the win with a strong burst of forward power and line busting ability in the opening quarter of the match and were never headed from that point on. The game evened up a bit after half time and the exchanges at the breakdown were pretty willing, but the Force kept their composure and the scoreboard ticking over to close out the game over a tired looking Reds team. Unfortunately for the Reds, it’s the second time in two weeks that they’ve been overwhelmed by a stronger pack who chose to physically impose themselves.
The final Force try rather summed up proceedings: a powerful run by Cummins, quick ball at the breakdown and good hands along the line for one of the back rowers to score in the corner.
The Result
Force 45 (Stannard, Sharpe, Seymour, Wara, Hodgson tries; Harvey 4 convs; Harvey 4 pens) beat Reds 19 (Slipper, Humphries, Shipperly tries; Murphy2 conv) Ref: Garrat Williamson
The Damage
Stannard was the big one, going off in the first 20 minutes of the game. He was walking around in crutches and dressed in his civvies after the game. It looked like an ankle and it looked serious. I expect him to be out for a while.
Rod Davies looked in a bit of trouble out there a couple of times for the Reds, but was OK in the end. They are probably counting their blessings at not picking up any new injuries.
The Moment
For me the big moment was Sheehan blocking Murphy’s kick, directly leading to Seymour’s try. The Force were already dominating field position and possession, but this try seemed to provide the reward for all that effort in the first half. There have been many times this season when all the hard work from the pack has not translated into points. Tonight they were a lot smarter and a lot more ruthless once on top.
The Man
Brett Sheehan had a mighty game and bested his Wallaby opponent. His passing was crisp from the ruck base (I noted that he didn’t go too lateral tonight with his first movement), he had a couple of really good darts around the fringes to get some forward momentum and tackled like a demon. I reckon that was one of his best performances in a Force jersey, to go along with a couple of strong performances in the last couple of weeks.
The Force back row also had a good night, winning a very physical battle against a Reds combination who are certainly no mugs. Pocock in particular was very good.
The Talking Point
The big talking point would be the ferocity of the Force pack in the early exchanges. They really took the Reds on up front and established some excellent go forward. It set up the win in many ways. There was a real dynamism and verve about the way they played and Reds didn’t seem to be able to withstand it for long periods of the game. With the momentum established, the Force backs were getting the ball out in front of them most of the night and Cummins was continually bending the line at outside centre. I thought he had a storming game there and has proven conclusively that he can play the position. He really ought to be first choice in the 13 jumper now. It also appears that a workable game plan might have been found. The Force don’t lack access to the ball, but the problem has always been how to win games with it. Using a powerful centre to get over the gain line have the pack pouring through that channel as a unit could be the ticket. The issue previously has been the static nature of the attack. That wasn’t the case tonight.
There was a period early in the second half when the Reds forwards started get at least parity in the contact area and often more than that. The breakdown battle was immense in that period of the game and the introduction of Beau Robinson had a lot to do with it. The problem was they couldn’t sustain it and keep the score board ticking over as the Force were doing. The Force played a much smarter field position game and this week had the defensive line moving up to chop off most counter attacking opportunities. Ben Tapuai was really the only Reds back who was able to threaten the defence on a regular basis and created a number of good opportunities after breaking the line. The problem was that the Reds were unable to cash in on those chances.
