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Fijian Drua handed crushing defeat care of Wallaby's materclass
By AAP
Western Force flyhalf Ben Donaldson has scored 23 points on the back of a perfect kicking display to lift his side to a crushing 48-10 win over Fijian Drua in Perth.
The Force entered Saturday night's Super Rugby Pacific match at HBF Park in last place and knowing a loss would effectively end their finals hopes.
But spurred on by a star showing from former Wallaby Kurtley Beale and a perfect eight-out-of-eight kicking display from Donaldson, the Force romped to their third win of the season.
The six-tries-to-one win lifted the Force (3-8) from last spot into ninth, leaving them just two points adrift of the eighth-placed Drua with three rounds remaining.
The Force finish their regular season with games against the struggling Waratahs (home), fifth-placed Reds (away) and third-placed Brumbies (home), with two more wins potentially enough to secure a finals berth.
The Force made a blistering start to the match, touching down for a try after just 54 seconds.
Captain Jeremy Williams set up the try with a 30m break, with winger Chase Tiatia providing the finishing touch with a dive in the corner.
The scoreline read 14-0 in the 14th minute when flanker Carlo Tizzano finished off a sweet line-out move with a quick pick-and-go near the line.
Donaldson nailed his third kick of the match to make it 17-0 in the 20th minute, with Fijian Drua's only points of the half coming via a 38th-minute penalty.
Force half-back Nic White had to get his finger put back into place at halftime, and the home side were under the pump early in the second half.
Drua winger Selestino Ravutaumada produced an acrobatic dive in the corner in the 45th minute to reduce the margin to seven points.
A yellow card to White in the 51st minute heaped further pressure on the Force, and the Fijians almost had another try a minute later - only for winger Taniela Rakuro to fumble the dribbling ball.
Force inside centre Hamish Stewart produced two pieces of magic to help turn the tide.
First, Stewart launched a successful counter-ruck to win back possession. In the next piece of play, he gained several vital metres to put the Force within touching distance of a try, with Michael Wells doing the rest to make it 24-10.
Lopeti Faifua put the Force in bonus-point territory when he combined with No.8 Reed Prinsep for the team's fourth try of the night.
A slick Beale pass set up Bayley Kuenzle for a 72nd-minute try, before Donaldson produced the icing on the cake with a 50m run to the line in the dying minutes.
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Latest Comments
Don't think you've watched enough. I'll take him over anything I's seen so far. But let's see how the future pans out. I'm quietly confident we have a row of 10's lined uo who would each start in many really good teams.
Go to commentsHopefully Joe stays where he is. That would mean Les, McKellar, larkham and Cron should as well. It’s the stability we need in the state programs. But, if Joe goes, RA with its current financial situation will be forced into promoting from within. And this will likely destabilise other areas.
To better understand some of the entrenched bitterness of those outside of NZ and NSW (as an example 😂), Nic, there is probably a comparison to the old hard heads of welsh rugby who are still stuck in the 1970s. Before the days where clubs merged, professionalism started, and the many sharp knives were put into the backs of those who loved the game more than everyone else. I’m sure you know a few... But given your comparison of rugby in both wales and Australia, there are a few north of the tweed that will never trust a kiwi or NSWelshman because of historical events and issues over the history of the game. It is what it is. For some, time does not heal all wounds. And it is still festering away in some people. Happy holidays to you. All the best in 2025.
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