The Highlanders would have come to Perth expecting a win, but with the Force having won the last six between the two teams, they weren’t taking the Force lightly.
The Match
The game started at a rapid pace. The Force broke their usual mould and created some opportunities with the ball in hand in the first ten minutes. They were the first team to go close to scoring when Sias Ebersohn found a hole close to the ruck but a likely try to Brache was snuffed out by some desperate defence by Ben Smith. The next five minutes was chewed up with scrum resets and after the packs finally worked each other out, the resulting scrums were willing but neither team really dominated.
The Highlanders were first to score after Pryor forced a turnover in the Forces half and Sopoaga duly slotted the kick to make it 3-0. Ebersohn managed to even the score up five minutes later after the Force were awarded a penalty for Pryor not releasing.
The second 20 minutes was exciting with both teams making breaks but failing to capitalise. Ben Smith showed his class with accurate kicking and ability to sum up the situation to find space behind the Force line but the Highlanders were guilty of being sucked into the Force game plan and were letting themselves down with handling errors.
The Force were guilty of similar, and their lineout failing to fire. The Force won a penalty in the 39th minute but Haylett-Petty’s kick failed to find touch and after The Clan ran it back into the Force’s half, the Force were penalised and Sopoaga kicked true from straight in front to give the Highlanders a 6-3 half time lead.
The second half started with the Highlanders getting clearly on top. After five minutes they constructed an eleven-man rolling maul on the Force goal line and Hardie dotted down for a try. Sopoaga converted from out wide to give the Highlanders a 13-3 lead.
For the next 15 minutes the game see-sawed with both teams getting periods of possession in the opposition’s half. From the 60th minute the Highlanders pinned the Force in their own half with brilliant tactical kicking and line breaking.
What followed was a period of dominance by the Highlanders after some headless chook clearance efforts by the Force. The Highlanders looked to have scored in the corner after Dixon went over but the TMO ruled he had been held up. After attacking the Forces line manfully for ten minutes The Clan decided they had to take some points for their period of dominance and Sopoaga set up for a drop goal which he struck beautifully to sail through and extend the lead to 16-3.
John Hardie – first try-scorer
Two minutes later Marty Banks and Richard Buckman combined to send Aaron Smith clear to the try line. The superior handling skills of the Highlanders bench reserves was the nail in the coffin for the Force. Banks converted to give the Highlanders a 23-3 lead which wasn’t to change and ended up as the full time score.
The Force were their own worst enemies gifting possession back to the Highlanders back three or turning it over with poor handling. They had conceded 20 turnovers by the 70th minute and the class of the Highlanders reserves is a sobering reminder of New Zealand rugby depth.
The Highlanders, while largely noted for their back three’s line-breaking ability, their real dangers are their brilliant ability to kick for space and build pressure through territory, their flat attacking line, and their lightning-quick recycle. These make The Clan a team who will trouble any opposition on the road through the finals.
The Force on the other hand desperately need to find a 10/12/13 combo that works. Brache is not the answer at 13. With the Force’s season shot out of a cannon, it’s time that Foley started giving the fringe guys some minutes so we can see who steps up and is worth keeping for next year.
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The Game Changer
When Haylett-Petty failed to find touch on the death of half time, it resulted in the Highlanders scoring three points and was a sign of things to come.
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[one_third last=”no”]
The G&GR MOTM
Ben Smith – If there is a better fullback in world rugby, I haven’t seen him.
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[one_third last=”yes”]
Anti-Wallaby watch
The only player to advance their chances was Matt Hodgson, but with the 7 queue in Australia, nobody from the Force increased their chances on that performance.
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The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]Force: 3
Penalty: R. Ebersohn
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[one_half last=”yes”]Highlanders: 23
Tries: J. Hardie, A. Smith
Conversions: L. Sopaga, M. Banks
Penalties: L. Sopoaga 2
Drop goal: L. Sopoaga
[/one_half]
Cards & citings
None
