Waratahs sneak past Force in Perth thriller
The NSW Waratahs surged into the Super 14 top four with a hard-fought 14-10 triumph over Western Force in Perth on Saturday night.
The Waratahs trailed 10-8 at half-time but regained the lead courtesy of two penalties from five-eighth Daniel Halangahu, who took over the kicking duties from the wayward Berrick Barnes after the break.
The Force attacked relentlessly in the final 20 minutes and were unlucky not to find the winning try, with a dogged defensive effort from the Tahs and some dubious calls from referee Jaco Peyper denying the home side on numerous occasions.
NSW’s fourth win of the season and third on the trot allowed them to leapfrog the Brumbies into fourth, while the winless Force remain rooted to the bottom of the table with just one bonus point to show from five games.
The Force started as rank $4.40 outsiders with TAB Sportsbet despite the game being played on their home turf of ME Bank Stadium.
The sides traded early penalties before Tahs winger Drew Mitchell, appearing against his former side for the first time, scored the opening try of the night in the 16th minute when he beat Scott Staniforth to Halangahu’s perfectly-weighted grubber kick.
Barnes missed the conversion and sprayed his second penalty of the night seven minutes later but worse was to come from the Tahs’ inside centre.
With the visitors on the attack, Barnes watched in horror as his pass was expertly picked off by Force winger Staniforth, who sprinted 60m to touch down unopposed under the posts.
James O’Connor’s conversion gave the Force a 10-8 half-time lead and Barnes almost gave up his second try of the night shortly after the break when Ryan Cross stripped him of the ball and sprinted towards the line.
This time, however, the Tahs’ defence was able to scramble back in time to diffuse the situation much to the relief of Barnes.
And the visitors hit the lead in the 56th minute when a penalty against the Force’s scrum allowed Halangahu to pop over the three points, with another penalty in the 64th minute extending the margin to four points.
Force flyhalf David Hill was held up over the line in the 69th minute and the home side couldn’t find the winner despite a number of promising attacking forays.
But the Force can find solace from the improved effort, with their line-out, which was badly exposed in last week’s 50-10 loss to Queensland, particularly impressive.
© AAP 2012
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Rockin Rod said | March 21st 2010 @ 6:07am | Report comment
Barnes is so far off the pace. Is that the first time he has been hooked with the game in the balance ? Shute shield for you champ
Rockin Rod said | March 21st 2010 @ 6:09am | Report comment
I also think we saw Geprge Smiths replacement last night behind David Pocock.
Matt Hodgson was outstanding. Phil Waugh like Braid the other week, got the two turnovers when it mattered, but Hogo was the MOM.
Ora said | March 21st 2010 @ 7:38am | Report comment
Gutted for the Force they went all out last night, Noone gave them a sh!t show in coming close but they played hard. Unfortunately their handling at crucial times is what let them down.
Thw Waratahs are no way in hell contenders for this championship. With a star studded line up they really struggled against a team that has been battling the odds before the season even begun.
Go_the_Wannabe's said | March 21st 2010 @ 10:20am | Report comment
Why do ref’s reset scrums after the ball has been won? What’s the point again? There is none……
Time again the ref reset the scrums with the third efffort looking exactly the same as the first with the front rows collapsing and the ball squirting out the back. What was the difference between the 1st and 3rd efforts? None.
Also, how many scrum penalties (free or full) did the force get? I can’t recall any. So the Tahs are perfect and the Force are serial offenders? i think not.
Why oh why do refs insist on penalising the attacking scrum 5 metres out from the line? Why on earth would you want to collapse your own scrum there? Sucked in ref……
And as for the linesman who wasn’t awake and couldn’t even pick where the Tahs kicker kicked out on the full from….that was just schoolboy reffing.
I liked the line above in the article “some dubious refereeing decisions”………they positively stank.
Something was rotten in Denmark……..or Perth last night.
Sin-ick said | March 21st 2010 @ 12:35pm | Report comment
Just a quick comment on why they reset the scrums……….
If the ball is at the back of the scrum, and the opposing team starts to put a push on, what is stopping the attacking team team to just collapse the scrum to secure clean ball? They reset the scrum to ensure a fair contest. Take that away from the game and you may as well have league scrums.
Sin-ick said | March 21st 2010 @ 12:40pm | Report comment
Why would you collapse your own scrum?
Like the ref said last night, Pressure.
Robbo is the best loosie in the world, and Fairbrother just got out scrummed all night. Robinson was getting a much bigger hit on that Fairbrother and that was forcing him to reach to the ground to stabilize himself before getting his arm up to bind. It’s got nothing to do with whose feed it is.
The Tah’s have one of, if not the best front rows in the Super14. The Western Force have a prop playing hooker…… No wonder that got smashed in the scrums all night.
Seiran said | March 21st 2010 @ 7:43pm | Report comment
‘Why oh why do refs insist on penalising the attacking scrum 5 metres out from the line? Why on earth would you want to collapse your own scrum there?’
Because the opposition has a better scrum and the attacking (feeding) team want to try and get a penalty against the opposition.
The wallabies pack with Al Baxter were masters of this when the wallaby scrum was extremely poor a few years ago.
Peter K said | March 21st 2010 @ 11:24am | Report comment
You must not know much about scrums.
If you are under pressure and about to be pushed off the ball you will collpase it, especially if you are the team with the feed. If you dont collpase it it will be a turnover.
The prop was pulling Robinsons arm down and in. Fairly obvious.
Go_the_Wannabe's said | March 22nd 2010 @ 10:05am | Report comment
You guys are all obviously Tah fans……I agree with TommyM below! Sure you try those tricks in the early scrums but not at the death when you’re trying the put the game away……I can’t believe the Tahs scrum was so great that the Force were at fault every time. Read what the others on here think of the reffing.
Also, no ones even bothered to offer any thoughts on why the ref kept re-setting scrums that were already won (by either side)……really, what is the point?
The sooner they bring in American style refereeing where the ref has to explain to the crowd his decision the better. I don’t care if it holds up quick taps….he could explain on the fly. It would certainly make refs more accountable and theyd get their 5 minutes in the spotlight so there mums could see them on tv instead at the countless boring resets.
DCR said | March 21st 2010 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
Any away win is to be cherished and this result makes two away wins. So the Waratahs are very well positioned on the ladder. They are bloody tough opponents because they are disciplined and arguably the best defensive team in the competition. The goal now must be to win a home semi-final. That means nine or ten wins; six at home and four away. We have two of the four and opportunities for more wins ahead, including a priceless win in New Zealand. With that goal in mind the question remains are we good enough. The answer so far is definitely not yet.
Matt Hodgson may have been the man of the match, but the most influential player was Berrick Barnes. His propensity to kick the ball down field turned the game into a tacklefest. The Waratahs started brightly, but lack of concentration, slow play by Burgess and the kicking of Barnes soon saw them revert to type. Maybe Barnes’ move from the Reds has been the key to the change in their style of play. The coach has a dilemma. Barnes is coming back from a serious injury so he needs support and game time for his confidence and form. He also needs time to develop teamwork with Halangahu and Carter. None of those midfield players has the individual attacking class of a Cooper, O’Connor, or Ashley-Cooper. Hence if you select them their attack will only work if their combination is dynamic or they set up the better attacking players, which for the Waratahs are Mitchell and Turner. There seems little structure in their game to do this. Mitchell and Turner almost never get the ball from a set piece so that means setting them up for the next phase and this is where the Waratahs are extremely weak against a strong defending team. The Waratahs second phase invariably falls into the hands of the forwards and if the defense mans up and does not bend too much the Waratahs are done. They don’t have second or multi-phase play to set up their two individually strong, attacking backs. They need to study the Crusaders until they are sick of the sight of them. The Crusaders invariably spin the set piece ball to their winger who is way out near the touchline. They have wingers who beat or worry their defender and their winger gets them going forward. They then spin the ball back another fifty metres to the other touchline where they set up their strong runners who may be a back or a forward but they all spin, step and stretch the defense and gain ground. By this time the defense is under pressure and Carter, the half back and others pick a weakness to attack. Until the Waratahs add this sort of dimension to their attack they will be pretenders not competition winners.
The coming game against the Blues is a pivotal game in their season. Both teams are fighting to squeeze into the four. It is their first against a New Zealand opponent, hence it will be a test because kiwi counter-attacking whether by hand or foot is a lot stronger than that of any previous opponent. So the reward if any from kicking the ball down field or into touch will be markedly less. The problem in this game is that the Waratahs must win it because it is at home and also please their fans with running play. It is a nice challenge for a professional coach to accept. Based on Hickey’s approach this year he needs to keep working on his midfield combinations (without dropping players), support Barnes to improve his form and incrementally develop better overall attacking structures. The two games following the Blues clash will be much better opportunities to make the essential development of the team’s attacking effectiveness with width, variety and focus on its strengths.
Hawko said | March 21st 2010 @ 11:18pm | Report comment
One of those two games after the Blues is the Crusaders away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tom said | March 21st 2010 @ 12:55pm | Report comment
One of the most drab games of rugby I’ve seen. Rugby has officially lost me as a fan. My mates and I have traded our waratahs membership in for a roosters membership this season. More entertainment and atmosphere at league games.
JF said | March 21st 2010 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
Great input Tom, maybe a press conference should have been organised for such an announcement, we are all dying to know more.
Seiran said | March 21st 2010 @ 7:39pm | Report comment
goodbye Tom.
formeropenside said | March 21st 2010 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
Both teams tried so hard not to win, but ultimately the referee allowed the Tahs to hold onto a lead.
That tactic of the tackler not rolling away, preventing the ball carrier from playing the ball quickly, and Waugh on the second man steal I would have thought was a penalty + yellow card, not play on. Hopefully referees wise up to it.
Even looser said | March 21st 2010 @ 4:22pm | Report comment
I’m a Tahs fan but even I reckon the Force were robbed.
On not rolling away – This was an area that had brought a breath of fresh air to the game. Has there been a directive to the refs that once again allows flopping of players over the ball?
reds fan said | March 21st 2010 @ 4:51pm | Report comment
agree. i got home late just in time to see the last two “steals” by Phil Waugh. where was the pen’s for the Tahs not rolling away?? if that was the standard of ref’ing i feel sorry for those that sat through the whole thing.
Cattledog said | March 21st 2010 @ 1:34pm | Report comment
Perth ‘thriller’…which game were you watching, Justin?
adam said | March 21st 2010 @ 1:51pm | Report comment
to be honest tom my dad and i were at the game last night and it was the most boring game ever
the force staduim doesnt even have a proper scoreboard
even my dad was falling asleep and he loves the force
TG said | March 21st 2010 @ 8:25pm | Report comment
Your kidding?? Did you go to the right ground? Maybe you turned up at Subi by mistake.
The scoreboard is on those big things in the corners called “screens”