Roar Guru
The Force have gone down by 36 points against a really professional performance from the Waratahs.
REPORT: FOLAU SETS RECORD AS TAHS THRASH FORCE
The Waratahs played smart in the first half, using little kicks in behind the line to slow the Force rushing defence, then as the game opened up their leaders in Hooper and Foley and Beale started to run the show.
The set piece was very good, the ball control was solid and the finishing was great.
Final score
Force 13
Waratahs 49
The NSW Waratahs cross the Nullarbor to tackle the Western Force in Perth, needing a win to keep their faint finals hopes alive. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:45pm Saturday (AEDT).
Sadly for Waratahs fans, the Brumbies all but ended their season last week.
Even more sadly for Waratahs fans, their team now has to travel to Perth to take on their nemesis – the Western Force. The Waratahs have inexplicably had all sorts of problems with the Force in recent years, and the Western Australians have won their last three games against the Waratahs (straddling a period when the Tahs were close enough to the best team in the competition – a boast they can make no longer).
The Force come into this game having lost five straight games, but they have all been pretty tough fixtures (Brumbies, Hurricanes, Chiefs, Highlanders and Crusaders). They have been very competitive in the most recent games, and should just about have beaten the Crusaders last time out.
Meanwhile, even though the Waratahs lost a very competitive game to the Brumbies last week, they have been struggling to reach any great heights this season. Kurtley Beale was excellent for them last week, and he gets another opportunity to team up with Izzy Folau, who has been named at outside centre again this week. Tatafu Polota-Nau returns on the bench, while youngsters Andrew Kellaway and Tom Robertson also hold their spots.
The Force have lost Pek Cowan and Nathan Charles, and they join Jono Lance, Luke Burton and Chris Alcock on the sidelines. Even without those players, they have named a very solid starting fifteen and I expect them to be very competitive.
Tip:
I am going to stick with the Waratahs, but not with any great confidence. The Force usually cause the boys from NSW all sorts of problems, and I don’t expect anything different here, but I think the Tahs will just have too many points in them. Waratahs 1-12.