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.
adam
Guest
TG said | Yesterday | 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” well there is only one screen at the soccer ground where the force play and they print tge score on it so small its impossible to see as for me i say phil waugh still has it cant wait for the bulls next week \
shocked!
Guest
Thriller?!?! that was the worst game i've watched in about 20 years
Mike G
Guest
RR, best not to forget the Tahs have played 4/6 games away (including the dreaded SA trip), so I'm quietly hopeful of a top 4 finish at seasons end...Brumbies v Tahs at ANZ will be season defining for both I think.
Go_the_Wannabe's
Guest
Your loss......great atmosphere at the game, the Force pressing the Tahs line for most of the 2nd half and the blue army in full cry. I'll never knock the guys for losing if they have a red hot go......that's all you can ask.
Go_the_Wannabe's
Guest
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.
eric
Guest
Phil Waugh is the Geoff Boycott of rugby. His "win ugly" philosophy is holding back the Tahs and turning off supporters. His cynical killing of the ball in the last few minutes would have drawn penalties and yellow cards in other matches this season. The Force were robbed.
Red Rooster
Guest
MikeG - Wait till the Tahs have their bye and see where they are on the ladder
tony the sandgroper
Guest
I was at the game last night. I was disapponinted for the Force. I thought they deserved a better result. There were two things that stood out to me and thet are why I love the game. There was a good crowd, who supported their team to the max and after the game the boys were cheered by a sizeable number of old and young fans. They were obviously gutted at the result but still took the time to thank us, the public for coming. The Waratahs acknowledged their little mob of barrackers too. It is something the people who don't go to the game miss. The force are a good team. Not the best yet but they certainly put their hearts into it last night. It was good to see John Mitchell out there with them during the warm up too. Good luck to the Waratahs, I think they'll need it to make the finals.
Mike G
Guest
Geez it must be tough being Phil Waugh at the moment...I mean, most of the Roar comments this year about the Tahs have been about their inability to entertain you lot. Ok, I too like to see tries in a game, but also get much joy from watching a good old fashioned arm wrestle. Whilst the game had it,s obvious faults (the Tahs misfiring backline springs to mind), the Force played out of their skins, and a hell of a lot better than against the Reds, so why are we all so negative about NSW? I note there hasn,t been anywhere near the responces re the Brumbies and their stuttering first 5 games (even though they have the best 15 in Oz on paper by far). Fact is the tahs are the top ranked Oz side at the moment & are 4th. That should be at least acknowledged, if not celebrated.
Hawko
Guest
One of those two games after the Blues is the Crusaders away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nu2thegame
Guest
after a very long drive to the game last night I found the crowd totally entertaining ! The off-field flowerpot man and smiley face along with the Force creature bopping away. Language was colourful as were the shirts worn by many. Coffee not bad and the little tackers pre-game run around was joyful. Prob missed whatever else was happening - as there were a whole lotta blokes running round on the main field appearing to be controlled by this tosser who was called a Ref. Did he win a lucky seat prize or something and just got the gig? Won't be attending another Force game EVER.
Gary
Guest
I meant a Tahs jersy
Gary
Guest
Best player for the Tahs by a long way was Jaco Peyper. He broke up far more Force attacks than anyone wearing a blue jersy.
TommyM
Guest
He got a run a few weeks ago and was pretty poo. big and slow- think he may be injured as well. In response to the scrum experts above- yes, you might drop the scrum deliberately on attack IF you thought you might milk a penalty (perhaps a possibility in the first of the three penalties last night, but certainly not the next too) or if you were going backwards and at risk of losing the scrum (again NOT the case last night- check the footage). SHarpe asked the ref the exact question and his flustered response was "Er...pressure"- abject nonsense. He clearly hadn't actually thought about it clearly and was covering his mistake. But good on Benn Robinson- did to Henderson what all the loose heads of the world did to Al Baxter for years- let's hope he can continue to get away with it for the Wallabies...
TG
Guest
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"
Seiran
Guest
'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.
Seiran
Guest
goodbye Tom.
adam
Guest
i mean for the tahs
adam
Guest
when is that big south african going to get a run on for the force
reds fan
Guest
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.