In a veritable feast of rugby this Easter weekend, we have the Force and Chiefs in Perth on Good Friday. Both teams are coming off good wins last weekend and will be feeling pretty confident heading into this game.
The Force finally broke the shackles against a depleted Reds outfit and won in grand style. The pack dominated the physical exchanges and provided more than enough ball for the backs to use. For the first time this season the chances were taken, and they won comfortably.
There’s been no lack of forward power from the Force this season, but it’s been the conversion of possession and field position into points that’s been the issue. That wasn’t the case last week and they’ll need to do the same and more against a Chiefs outfit that can score freely even when denied the pill for extended periods. As with dealing with the Reds’ back three last time out, it will be important to play a disciplined field position game and try to suffocate the Chiefs’ attack as much as possible. The quality of the kick chase will be absolutely vital if they are going to try and contain their opposition.
In attack it will be harder again, as the Chiefs midfield are no slouches with Kahui and SBW. Cummins had a storming game last week and will need to raise it again, as the centres he faces tomorrow night are quality. The best course of action will be for the Force to attack the Chiefs at the set pieces and try to disrupt their ball as much as possible at the breakdown. Fortunately they have a pack that is absolutely capable of doing these things.
The Chiefs were good value in their win against the Tahs last week. They were denied the ball for long periods early in the game, but still managed to stay close enough on the scoreboard. Once they got a bit of ball on the counter-attack, they were absolutely deadly. The supporting lines and the quality of the passing were absolutely top-drawer. In spite of the Tahs throwing everything at them in that first 30 minutes of the game, the Chiefs were able to absorb the pressure and then catch them on the break several times.
They get the wobbles in the tight stuff from time to time, but it’s their work when the game gets a bit unstructured that makes them so hard to stop. They play with such confidence when they have ball in hand that they are difficult to contain. The Tahs showed what I think is the blueprint to beating them, but they couldn’t sustain it beyond half-time. Because the Chiefs play such a high risk/high reward game in the loose and often from deep in their half, it is possible to pressure them into mistakes — mostly by pinning them in their own half and throwing a blanket over them defensively, but that is more easily said than done. When a team throws the ball around with pace and precision it takes a very disciplined defence to shut them down. The Chiefs also have a quite effective rush defence that catch their opposition frequently behind the gain line, but the Tahs were able to break them open a couple of times. Angles of running and the occasional inside ball will be necessary to unlock them, I suspect.
Teams
Western Force: 15 David Harvey, 14 Samu Wara, 13 Nick Cummins, 12 Winston Stanley, 11 Alfie Mafi, 10 Ben Seymour, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Matt Hodgson, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Richard Brown, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan.
Reserves: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Phoenix Battye, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Josh Homes, 21 Rory Sidey, 22 Patrick Dellit.
Chiefs: 15 Robbie Robinson, 14 Lelia Masaga , 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Tim Nanai-Williams, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Kane Thompson, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Brodie Retallick , 4 Craig Clarke (c), 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Arizona Taumalolo.
Reserves: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Josh Hohneck, 18 Michael Fitzgerald, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Augustine Pulu, 21 Andrew Horrell, 22 Jackson Willison.
Details
Date: Friday, 6 April
Venue: Nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 19:40 WST
Referee: Jonathon White
Assistant referees: Ian Smith, Julian Pritchard
Television match official: George Ayoub
Game Breaker
I think the two halves will have a huge bearing in the outcome of this game. Kerr-Barlow and Sheehan were I thought best on ground in each of their games last week. The Chiefs rely on quick ball from the breakdown for Cruden, SBW and co. to open up the defence, and Kerr-Barlow delivers that in spades. Sheehan has really started to hit his straps in the last couple of games, and nowhere was that more evident than his service last week and the number of good darts around the ruck he made in the loose.
I should also mention that the battle between Pocock and Hodgson on one side and Latimer and Messam on the other will be worth watching. If the Force back row pressurise the Chiefs at the breakdown they may have a chance of pulling off an upset. It is obviously the job of Latimer and Messam to prevent this. It should be a good battle.
Fearless Prediction
I’m going to stop predicting tight games after my last two fearless calls. With the way that the Chiefs play, I don’t think it will be hugely close either way. It will either click for them and they’ll win by plenty or they won’t get it together and get touched up. They are that kind of team. Now that I’ve said that, it will probably be one point in it and a win in the 80th minute.
Chiefs by 10.
