Brumbies ruin Western Force homecoming party
The Brumbies have ruined the Western Force's long-awaited homecoming by securing a 27-11 Super Rugby AU win in Perth.
It had been 1,316 days since the Force had last played a Super game in Perth, but tries from Brumbies flyhalf Noah Lolesio, inside centre Irae Simone, and replacement Issak Fines-Leleiwasa set up a match-winning 27-6 lead in Friday's opener.
The Force scored a late try to deny the Brumbies a bonus point.
"You've got to be proud of the boys going for it, and then we defended the other side of the field not to let them score," Brumbies captain Allan Ala'alatoa told Channel 9 when asked about the missed bonus point.
"You've got to be proud of the boys' efforts. We were under pressure away from home."
The Force suffered a pre-match blow when centre Kyle Godwin was ruled out with an ankle injury.
But they had a pretty handy replacement up their sleeve - World Cup-winning All Black Richard Kahui.
The Force hit the lead early with a penalty, but captain Ian Prior fluffed the chance to put his team 6-0 up when his close-range effort hit the post in the 14th minute.
The miss proved to be costly, with the Brumbies levelling the scores shortly after, before Lolesio made the most of a defensive lapse to score the first try of the match in the 21st minute.
Lolesio was able to stroll over untouched after scrumhalf Nic White picked the ball up from a breakdown and moved swiftly to his left to open up the gap for his teammate.
The Force committed 10 penalties in the first half, gifting the Brumbies field position time and again.
The home side almost scored a try in the 33rd minute, but the TMO found the ball had fallen short of the line.
The most spectacular moment of the first half came when Force flyhalf Jono Lance unleashed a cross-field kick.
Force winger Byron Ralston caught the ball one-handed while squeezed up on the sideline, and he dribbled the ball forward while being tackled.
The attacking move eventually led to a penalty, but the Brumbies replied on the stroke of halftime to take a 13-6 lead into the break.
The Force were in a deep hole at 20-6 down early in the second half when Brumbies outside centre Len Ikitau broke through a tackle and dished off a sweet offload to set up Simone for a try.
An untimely knock-on denied Brumbies scrumhalf Nic White just a metre before the line a short time later, letting the Force off the hook.
And when Brumbies prop James Slipper was given a yellow card in the 59th minute for bringing down a rolling maul, the Force sniffed an opening.
But the Brumbies held firm with 14 men, and then sealed the win in the 71st minute when they swept it wide from a scrum for Fines-Leleiwasa to score.
The Force at least gave the crowd of 7,514 something to cheer about when Argentinian international Tomas Cubelli sneaked through a gap to score a 76th minute try and deny the Brumbies a bonus point in the process.
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Hi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
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