The Force were desperate to arrest their 6 game losing streak, but it wasn’t to be with the Cheetahs rock solid defence seeing them run out convincing 24-15 winners.
The Match
The match started with clear skies and both teams tried to take advantage of that with some ball in hand running rugby. The Cheetahs scored the first try in the 5th minute after Joe Pietersen found a hole inside the Force defence directly in front of goal. The resulting recycle allowed Willie Le Roux to throw a wide cut out past and Raymond Rhule ran in for a try untouched after the Force found their defence narrow which Pietersen failed to convert. But the Force hit back in the 14th minute after Dane Haylett-Petty got his hands free in the tackle which drew the outside defender. He offloaded to Luke Morahan with a neat flick pass which Morahan dotted down in the corner. Luke Burton converted from out wide to give the Force the lead, 7-5.
Luke Morahan – scored first try for Force .
The next 20 minutes of rugby could be used as an instructional video for how to play rugby. Both teams respected the offside line and allowed the breakdown to flow but neither team could get on top and the game was largely played between the 22’s with some aimless kicking from the Force despite having most of the possession. The Force had the opportunity to kick a penalty from a handy position but spurned the shot at goal in favour of a scrum and ended up turning it over in the Cheetahs 22, who managed to break out and after the Force conceded a penalty in their own half, Pietersen kicked a penalty goal to give the Cheetahs the lead 8-7.
On the stroke of half time, Britz from the Cheetahs was penalised for not rolling away and Burton kicked a penalty to give the Force back the lead heading into half time, 10-8.
Chris Alcock – scoring try after lineout drive .
The 2nd half started with a bang for the Force after Adam Coleman managed to disrupt the Cheetahs line out which lead to the Force having their own line out 5m out from the Cheetahs line. The Force formed an excellent driving maul and Alcock showed his experience marshaling the troops to fall over the line for a try. Burton missed the conversion and the Force lead 15-8.
A few minutes later Pietersen was able to close the gap by kicking a penalty after McCalman failed to roll away and 4 minutes later closed the gap further after knocking over and excellent drop goal. The next 20 minutes fell into the same pattern as the first half with determined defence from the Cheetahs, restricting the Force to only making the gain line 50% of the time. The resulting frustration lead to the Force wasting possession with poor grubber kicks and pushed passes. The Cheetahs in the mean time took their limited chances with Venter and Sadie combining for a good line break which lead to Brussow scoring a try from a rolling maul in the 65th minute. Pietersen converted and the Cheetahs took a 21-15 lead.
The Force were still in with a chance and were slowly making ground with a 26 phase string of possession in the Cheetahs 22, but after a pushed pass Nick Cummins knocked on. The Cheetahs worked their way back into the Force’s half and kicked another penalty. This was to be the last score of the game leaving the Cheetahs to run out deserved winners 24-15.
The Force had the majority of attack, possession and territory. But when it came to the key moments they failed to break the line and the Cheetahs defence was better than any attack the Force had to offer.
Heinrich Brüssouw (right) – man of the match .
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The Game Changer
The Force had a 26 phase possession deep in the Cheetahs 22 when they were only trailing by 6, but failed to take away any points and would not score again in the match.
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The G&GR MOTM
Heinrich Brussow. Made a pest of himself at the breakdown and tackled like a demon.
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Wallaby watch
Dayne Haylett-Petty.
Didn’t get the nod for the MOTM as he still too often makes a mistake after doing something good. If he can take the mistakes out of his game he could be a contender for backup/backup 15 behind Folau and Coleman.
Adam Coleman, Luke Burton and Kyle Godwin all had periods of good play and will definitely be in the Wallabies frame post RWC.
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The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]FORCE: 15
Tries: Morahan (14), Alcock (42)
Conversions: Burton 1/2
Penalties: Burton 1/2, Ebersohn 0/1
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[one_half last=”yes”]CHEETAHS: 24
Tries: Rhule (5), Brussow (65)
Conversions: Pietersen 1/2
Penalties: Pietersen 3/3
Drop Goal: Pietersen 1/1
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Cards & citings
None
Watchability Rating – 2.5 out of 5.
A game that never reached any great heights, but plenty of solid fundamentals on show and few mistakes from both teams.
