The Western Force had double reason to celebrate on Saturday night despite suffering a 17-3 Super Rugby loss to the Stormers in wet and soggy conditions in Perth.
A controversial try to centre Bryan Habana and Peter Grant’s 12-point contribution set up the win for the Stormers, who remain equal top of the South African conference.
In contrast, the Force’s seventh loss of the season all but ended their slim finals hopes, with the franchise a worrying 14 points adrift of the Brumbies with just seven games remaining.
But the big talking point was about the Force’s work off the field, with the franchise securing the services of Wallabies and Queensland halfback Will Genia for next season.
And in a bonus, flanker David Pocock is also set to re-sign with the club.
On the field, things weren’t looking all that good for the Force when Habana intercepted Force five-eighth David Harvey’s ambitious pass to score the opening try of the night in the 20th minute.
Habana ran 60m before diving under the posts untouched.
But replays showed the ball actually slipped out of Habana’s arms just centimetres short of the tryline, with the referees not close enough to see the mistake.
Tempers threatened to boil over in the 25th minute when several players engaged in a wrestle near the touchlines.
No yellow cards were given, but tensions continued to simmer for the remainder of the half.
Returning Force winger Napolioni Nalaga pulled off a brilliant try-saving tackle in the 26th minute to deny Stormers fullback Johan Pietersen in the corner, but a glut of unforced errors from both sides in the slippery conditions ensured the score remained 7-3 to the Stormers at halftime.
A penalty to Grant gave the visitors a 10-3 edge early in the second half, and the Stormers were well on their way to victory when the playmaker charged over for a try in the 49th minute.
From then on, the only question was whether the Stormers could notch the four tries needed for a bonus point.
They failed on that front, but notched their eighth win from nine games.
Players struggled to keep their feet for much of the match, with heavy showers ensuring a water-logged pitch.
sittingbison
Roar Pro
Harry you are contemptible as usual. If you have nothing useful to say, try and refrain from dribbling
Blue Blood
Guest
The best team won on the night. No doubt. But it is disheartening when non tries are awarded. A positive I did notice was that the Force did not allow the ladder leaders to score in the last 30 minutes of play. Great defence lead by the Forwards who are looking great. The sad part was that the Forwards were also the only ones breaking the line. The Force need a backline to stop losing games. I look forward to seeing Pocock, Hodgson, McCalman, Sharpe and Cowan get some well deserved Wallaby time in a few weeks. I bet they enjoy playing in a team with a backline that matches their skill as forwards. Hodgson got my man of the match. Huge tackles and great runs bouncing off defenders and hard fought pilfers.. His skills in the fisticuffs were also noteworthy.
Harry
Guest
Some delusional Force fans above. They were rubbish. At home. Again.
sittingbison
Guest
For those wanting to know, and who watched on tv, it was absolutely bucketing down the entire game, and the field had puddles on it. The actual turning point was the knock to the head of Harvey, he was down for about 5 mins. Although he did continue, there is no doubt in my mind he was concussed, the pass to Habana, several hospital passes and also to stationary forwards not the galloping back, badly missing a penalty from 30m, Aberant kicking in play, and only making 10-15m with penalty kicking. Seymour made a big difference when he came on. Nalaga made a difference on the wing, season might have been different if he didn't miss last six games. Stormers had an edge, not great though. It was a real arm wrestle in atrocious conditions.
Crazy Horse
Guest
It could have been a very different result in an error packed match as a result of the wet conditions. The real score was 10-3 if the non try by Habana is discounted. Then Shehan kicked the ball away (again) when the Force were right on the Stormers try line. I have been watching Habana closely for several years since seeing him at Ellis Park. He has a style of play best described as lurking. He often positions himself close to the breakdown but takes no part in the contest for the ball. Instead waits for the chance to intercept. The Force Aapeared to wake up to this in the second half and involved him in the action thereby neutralizing this tactic.