Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Force on receiving end of ugly Blues' Super thrashing

Nic White of the Force and his team look on from the bench during the round seven Super Rugby Pacific match between Blues and Western Force at Eden Park, on April 05, 2024, in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

A woeful Western Force have copped a Super Rugby Pacific thrashing, held try-less in a 50-3 belting by the Blues at Eden Park.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bashed up front by a powerful Blues pack on Friday evening, the bottom-ranked Force were never in the contest as they slumped to their heaviest defeat of the season.

It was the seventh time in the past three seasons the Force have been beaten by 35 points or more, and their biggest-ever loss against the Blues.

Video Spacer

How far have the Crusaders fallen? Unpacking a BIG Super Round | ARP

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      Video Spacer

      How far have the Crusaders fallen? Unpacking a BIG Super Round | ARP

      The Force were simply blown away by the Blues in Auckland. (Andrew Cornaga/AAP PHOTOS)
      Halfback Taufa Funaki nabbed a double for the Blues but it was their forwards that got the job done, overpowering the Force on their way to four of their side’s eight tries.

      In hindsight, the Force would surely regret taking a penalty goal shortly before the half-hour while trailing 14-0 instead of pressing on in search of a try in a rare venture deep into Blues’ territory.

      22m Entries

      Avg. Points Scored
      6.2
      8
      Entries
      Avg. Points Scored
      0.2
      11
      Entries

      Five-eighth Ben Donaldson knocked over the goal and the Blues gathered their own restart, with second-rower Laghlan McWhannell crossing to make it 21-3 seconds later in a moment that seemed to drain the fight out of the Force.

      If that didn’t end their chances, silky interplay between brothers Akira and Rieko Ioane that ended with a try for Funaki to give the Blues a 28-3 lead at halftime surely did.

      ADVERTISEMENT

      The Blues’ scrum forced penalties at will and produced the match’s first try for Ofa Tu’ungafasi, with hooker Ricky Riccitelli crossing off the back of a rolling maul to make it 14-0.

      Any thought of a second-half fightback was quickly snuffed out when No.8 Hoskins Sotutu powered over on 43 minutes, before centre Corey Evans picked off a loose Force pass and crossed untouched soon after in one of the Australian side’s more embarrassing moments.

      Soft defending was a theme throughout, the Force missing a whopping 28 tackles compared with the Blues’ six.

      Related

      ADVERTISEMENT

      South Africa v Argentina | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

      France v New Zealand | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

      England v Wales | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

      Tattoos & Rugby: Why are tattoos so popular with sportspeople? | Amber Schonert | Rugby Rising Locker Room Season 2

      Lions Share | Episode 3

      Zimbabwe vs Kenya | Rugby Africa Cup Semi Final | Full Match Replay

      USA vs Spain | Men's International | Full Match Replay

      Portugal vs Ireland | Men's International | Full Match Replay

      Trending on RugbyPass

      Comments

      2 Comments
      Y
      YeowNotEven 466 days ago

      That was a proper spanking. Hoskins has got some skills, and stoked to see Caleb Clarke playing great footy again.

      Awful lot of kicking, Force should have had a go with ball in hand; they were getting a hiding and just kicked it back for the Blues to get field position bwfore running it at them.

      J
      Jen 466 days ago

      I thought the kicking was getting pretty tedious in about the first quarter of an hour and I was glad when the Blues actually started using the ball. Looked like the Force didn’t have any ideas outside of kicking.

      Load More Comments

      Join free and tell us what you really think!

      Sign up for free
      ADVERTISEMENT

      Latest Features

      Comments on RugbyPass

      P
      PM 40 minutes ago
      Why Henry Pollock's x-factor could earn him a Lions Test start

      Nick,

      I am a long suffering England fan, who has had to endure watching 4 years of dull rugby, poor selections and painful defeats. Steve Borthwick talks about GPS and picks squads by numbers and then we put in a poor performance on the pitch - it’s been a consistent trend.


      Something changed in the Six Nations and we totally changed our style (literally overnight) and played some really good footie, which finally felt like positive rugby for a change.


      Genge has regained his pore-Covid form and is looking back to his best and is head and shoulders above Porter.


      Chessum has had a good year and hasn’t played a poor International game this season.


      Tom Curry was outstanding in the 6 Nations but they have been playing him at 6, wheras he is better at 7 and is lethal at the breakdown.


      Tom Willis was brought into the starting team at 8 and has been one of the best England players over the last year, who should have been on this Lions tour at 8. Earl had his best game since 2020 last week - not sure 1 game warrants Lions selection over a poor combination side and he is certainly second choice for his club 7 country behind Willis.


      Pollock will be a good player but like all young emerging players, he is inconsistent and can go quiet in games, which is why Curry should be the starter at 7. He brings energy to games, which is why he is good from the bench but there is an argument to say he is the 5th best England openside (Curry x2, Underhill & Earl are currently better) but will improve over the next 5 years. We just need to stop the media building him up for a fall, let him play and develop and you will see a sensational Henry Pollock for the Lions in 4 years time.


      Lions will be too powerful over 80 mins, so doesn’t really matter who they pick. Just please don’t put too much hype on Pollock. His 20 mins of International rugby going into this tour were positive but the media caused a frenzy and no other player would be selected on this basis.


      Let’s enjoy the rugby and give Pollock the space and time he requires.

      100 Go to comments
      TRENDING
      TRENDING Springbok Jasper Wiese to miss All Blacks clash after ban for red card Springbok Jasper Wiese to miss All Blacks clash after ban for red card