Cheetahs beat Force 17-13

yup we do have fun supporting the Force, who always put in a wholehearted and determined effort, despite every possible impediment put before them by ARU, and consistentlly laughable decisions by refs, ARs and TMOs. Who do you support LU?, The Blues? Have fun with that.

sooooo....its ok to rake the eyes now, as long as the opposition does not put in a formal complaint. Thats hilarious, it should have been a red card followed by a month in the cooler. The assault on Hodgo should also have been a red, but surprisingly that was missed by the ref and ARs as well, despite him being knocked out and then stagger off the ground with concussion.

Update: from www.thewest.com.au "Cheetahs flanker Heinrich Brussow has escaped punishment des- pite grabbing at the eyes of Western Force winger Napolioni Nalaga in Saturday's Super Rugby clash. Brussow made contact with Nalaga in the 52nd-minute incident as the Force battled on their line to stop the Cheetahs from scoring. The incident in the Force's 17-13 loss in Bloemfontein went unnoticed by the match officials and SANZAR, Super Rugby's governing body, have not taken any action. SANZAR chief executive Greg Peters said the independent process had been followed and the judicial officer had "not seen anything to cause him concern". SANZAR rules say a club has four hours to lay a complaint. Peters said the Force did not report the incident within the four hours anyway and there was no basis to extend the citing time. SANZAR was still investigating another incident that left Force back-rower Matt Hodgson with concussion, unable to finish the game and in doubt for Saturday's clash with the Stormers in Durban. Cheetahs second row Andries Ferreira was cited for foul play. The performances of South Africa referee Stuart Berry, in his first Super game that left the Force on the wrong side of an 18-7 penalty count, and touch judge Stefan Breytenbach, who denied the Force a try that could have changed the game, are also being reviewed."

@Latimer-Umaga: "Each game they play is a struggle to watch because all they do is cheat at the breakdown. Spoiling tactics." But you probably love Richie McCaw and the AB's, and think they're awesome because they're so darn good at the breakdown - am I right? And regarding "Brussow’s lack of turnovers", he clearly got outplayed once again by Pocock. I recall at least two incidents where Pocock pilfered the ball from Brussow. But he was probably cheating, right?

the attacking of a players head in rucks and mauls is illegal. Indeed the wrestling technique of twisting by the head / neck is now awhite card offence leading to suspension. However refs ignore this dangerous play so it is inconsistent to pick on this example as you say it is done all the time. IMO this attacking the head is worse than the tip tackles, and I wish they would be as vigerous stamping this out and be more lenient on tip tackles (or go back to the old view on them on being driven down).

Agreed - it wasn't a choke. This "cleaning out by the head" happens EVERY ruck and maul. Honestly, how many times to do you see a defender taken out by the head in a driving maul??! If it's deemed illegal (I'm sure by the letter of the law it is), then call it all the time, on everyone. But to call it, and then call back a try when it doesn't impact the play at all is just plain ridiculous. One of many ridiculous calls on the day, but this one took the cake and was a game-changer. And like others pointed out, how do they not call the head-plant against Hodgson? This was like the "bad old days" of S. African refereeing. I don't like the whinging about the ref either, but how many times can the Force get screwed before you start to call it out? And this reffing incompetence is by and large across the board in this year's S15. When the biggest discussions after the weekend are about the refs (see the Reds-Cru discussions), then SANZAR has a problem on their hands.

I dont follow the Force much Latimer but I have to say that you bring a level of level headed maturity to the debate that we on the 'Force were robbed' side of the argument can only be grateful for.

yup, however an awful lot of pubs use foxtel access to these closed shop sports to get custom, and advertise that heavily.

The Foxtel Programmers aren't scheduling around those people who DON'T have Foxtel. 10:30am is actually a FANTASTIC time for those people who pay for their services but didn't want to get up in the middle of the night to watch it, have a lie in, and then watch the game. I agree that Foxtel is expensive and it's a real shame that games aren't available on FTA, but like any other business they have a duty of service to their paying clients before anyone else. Basic business model I would have thought.

Please, he had him by the head, he wasnt chocking him. We see similar in plenty of mauls each week and nothing is done!

Thank you.

"stick your tongue out and look mean cup". Brilliant.

This is my real name. Anyway, have fun supporting the Farce. Most one dimensional attack in the competition. Each game they play is a struggle to watch because all they do is cheat at the breakdown. Spoiling tactics. For this reason alone, despite the Farce never achieving anything, I cannot stand them.

Blake you are a joke, why use your bench with only 8 minutes to go. Holmes, McCaffrey and Seymour should have come on with 20 to go. Maybe time for these lads to start. Pocock TAKE THE POINTS and you may have won this one son

A generous though not entirely inaccurate writeup bison. The Cheetahs had a lot more chances to score than the Force though, no doubt about that. I do believe the Force got a really raw deal from refs though.

Cheetahs dominated attack. The Force get by without being thrashed by cheating at the breakdown. Like I said, the Force were lucky to be playing with 15 men. Brussow's lack of turnovers - the Cheetahs only made about 40 tackles to the Force's 100+ Cheetahs by far the superior side.

Ok, because of foxtels excellent programming I have been unable to watch a replay. Here is a post from force forum that has received some agreement. Feel free to dispute if you have seen it: "We were penalised out of the contest. Some of the rulings were baffling at times. The disallowed try was criminal and cost us the game. The Force effort was magnificent again. The lineout was first class. I don't think there was a crooked throw or a lost lineout. It was top shelf stuff from thelineout. The scrum was magnificent until the replacement prop came on. He was penalised two scrums in a row for not binding correctly. That is a serious technique issue. he got it right after that though. Our backrow dominated. Pocock and Hodgson in particular were magnificent. The turnovers came thick and fast. Rousow (sp?) was not at all disruptive. The Force backrow dominated this fixture. The defence was magnificent Blake initiatives: I was pleased to see some new trends that is clearly a change in coaching, tactics and alignment. The speed of ruck and maul was notably faster. The ball was shifted quickly from the breakdown. There was some magnificent pick and drive and the ball was shifted as soon as it was laid back. The clean out at ruck time was ferocious and accurate. This allowed placement and fast movement to the next phase. The backline moved the ball wide and opened up space several times on the wings. Nalaga was used frequently in midfield and opened them up on one occasion. He was in open pasture and was ankle tapped. Kicking was not aimless. The ball was kicked when required but usually found open pasture off the boot of Harvey. Some of Sheehans box kicks were amateurish however. Sheehan needs to put his box kick away. There was a plan to keep ball in hand and have a crack. The backs clearly had a plan ( a welcome change). Each player understood what the game plan was and what their role was in each situation..........good coaching The backline created space and opportunity on several occasions. It wasn't a rabble of blokes that looked like they met 5 minutes before kickoff and hoofed it because nobody knew the plan. The backline was better organised but lacks pace and ability ( sadly) of note: Stanley had his best game in the Force jumper. He defended strongly and ran good lines. He made plenty of breaks and scored a deserved try for his effort to charge down a kick. We chased the game all night but we were penalised heavily which was frustrating Clearly better drilled and coached. More attacking mindset Some tactical changes to bring Nalaga into play in midfield A tick for the tactical changes and coaching improvements. A tick for effort. The forwards were the best pack on the field and won every facet of the game. The referee was ordinary. It made me think of the old days when home town referees decided the fixtures. The refereeing was atrocious ( but don't take my word for it, watch it for yourself) Nathan Charles was absolutely outstanding. The wallaby selectors must really start thinking selection now...........and I'm not talking about warming the pine in 16" I asked how they managed to lose other than "we woz robbed", and the answer was that it was very difficult to get momentum or rhythm, and effectively we WAS robbed. It looks like it was refs FIRST S15 game, South African in South Africa with one SA team. Probably not great selection. Another post is if they have a mindset perception or preconception they will not see what is in front of them, but what they expect to see. Another post is how did the same AR that flagged Force try not see the assault on Hodgo that knocked him out when it was right in front of him. Lippy might have something to say about losers bagging the ref, and in general I agree, however this game seems to have highlighted some growing concerns at the role, quality and consistency of ARs, and ridiculous referee selections.

Conspiracy theory #1. Maybe the South African refs are getting revenge for Bryce Lawrence's under the table money at the stick your tongue out and look mean cup.

This is getting beyond a joke. Who is selecting the referees for each game? Who is in charge of the referees? Who trains the referees?

Please, Maafu was choking a player, absolutely that try should be reversed purely because had the ref seen it, it would have been a penalty before the try was scored. Had a South African player been choking and opening hand palming a prone player on the ground would you have anything to say? no. Let us not forget that Ronan O'gara was choked out a couple of years ago. Dangerous stuff and Maafu should be suspended - but him being on the Force team is punishment enough, I guess. du Preez scored an intercept try against the Chiefs in 2010 but it was disallowed because 2 minutes earlier Deon Steggman did a light shoulder charge and the touch judge came in with his report. Get over it. Cheetahs were 30 points the better side. How many times must the Force infringe and stop the free flowing rugby before they get yellow carded? the ref was lenient if anything. So lucky Johan Goosen wasn't playing otherwise things would have gotten ugly - 50 points piled on the Force ugly. Sias was decent last season but is totally out of form and demotivated and no where near the talent of Goosen. Boks looking good in the flyhalf area with Steyn, Goosen and Lambie.