A halftime spray has stirred the Western Force onto arguably the best win in their short history, a 27-17 victory over the Auckland Blues – their first ever triumph on New Zealand soil.
Ten points down at halftime, the Force capitalised on an injury to Blues playmaker Nick Evans to score 20 unanswered second-half points to conquer the trans-Tasman frontier on their sixth outing.
Skipper Nathan Sharpe said a team-led talking to at the change-over sparked the comeback which elevates the Force to fifth on the Super 14 ladder.
“All the boys put a rocket up themselves at halftime and you saw the result in the second half,” Sharpe said.
“We were disappointed in our first 40 minutes, but it did not take a great deal of screaming and yelling. Everyone was disappointed in themselves and we certainly righted that.
“It is a fantastic result for my team and that second half was the best we have ever played in New Zealand by far.”
After weathering an early battering to stand 7-7 on thirty minutes, Evans was forced from the field after an earlier collision with teammate Nick Williams.
And while Super 14’s top-scorer went to hospital to check whether his jaw was broken, his side lost their way.
Tries from Tony Woodcock and Anthony Tuitavake had given the Blues the advantage but brilliantly led by Matt Giteau, the Force wore down the Auckland defence with constant aggressive running and improving breakdown work.
With John Mitchell ringing the changes early in the second half – Chris O’Young replacing James Stannard at halfback and Scott Staniforth moving infield – the visitors worked their way back, beginning with Cameron Shepherd’s early try.
Giteau’s placekicking was immaculate, but from hand the newly re-signed Wallaby was even better, constantly giving the Force territorial advantage.
And with 15 minutes to go, eleven Force phases allowed the flyhalf’s cut out pass to find Richard Brown to cross, Giteau’s conversion levelling the scores.
A Giteau penalty gave the Force the lead and with replacements Pek Cowan and Tamaiti Horua making nuisances of themselves, Horua – born in Nelson on New Zealand’s South Island – produced the close range charge to cap an historic Force afternoon.
Blues skipper Troy Flavell admitted the loss of Evans had been a turning point.
“It was huge, he is the general in our team and he gives us a lot of direction … he was a huge loss and hopefully we have got him back for next week,” Flavell said.
“But the Force played extremely well tonight, you have got to take your hat off to them they kept it going, they have come a long way over the years.”
Sharpe said an altered build-up, and an understated confidence going in, had combined to take the Force a step closer to title contention.
“We varied things up coming over late to New Zealand (on Thursday), we were not sure whether it was going to work and I think we might have hit it on the head,” Sharpe said.
“The guys were quietly confident during the week leading up to the game and there were some very very good players out there tonight.”
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