The Force take on the Bulls this Saturday night at nib Stadium in Perth. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:40pm AEST (5:40pm local).
Melbourne’s Rebels brought the high-flying Western Force back down to earth rather abruptly last week, in a clash which proved that Australia’s two newest additions are going places.
The Rebels got the better of the Force in all areas of the game, and the boys from Western Australia saw their longest streak come to a close.
They allowed the Rebels to dictate the game to them, were less desperate and just didn’t show the fight they had in previous games.
Much had been made about the number of players missing from the Force’s line-up before the match, but even if the injured group played it wouldn’t have made much difference. According to head coach Michael Foley, “We weren’t able to get enough momentum in the early stages of the game and that took its toll in the back stages.”
The Force must get back into gear when hosting the Bulls tonight. South African teams have struggled to pick up wins on the road this season, but they play a great physical game which can upset any team’s momentum.
The Bulls were unable to contain the Waratahs the previous week and they are already hampered heading into this clash, with injury and suspension ruling out a couple of their players. It is the last stop of their road trip and they’ll want to end it with a victory.
The Force can make a big leap into the top three if they win tonight and other results fall in their favour.
As for the Bulls, they still have a chance to make the playoffs. They will be looking to join the Sharks as the second South African team in the post-season, and hopefully break some of the dominance of the Australian and New Zealand sides.
Tip: Force
Leon
Guest
OFF TOPIC: Watching the Heineken cup semi between defending champs Toulon and Munster out of curiosity as there is no rugby on at the moment 1 am in the morning. Just a few observations. Im rooting for the under dogs Munster here -European rugby has a very euro football like atmosphere -NH referees are so much better than the shambolic referees in super rugby -the English commentators are unbearable as they sound anti Irish -standard of rugby is ok to good but having a vocal atmosphere like it is atm makes it look like a good match.But a good tense match so far esp. in the second half -I dont know how the French can claim any sort of European club superiority when more than half thier teams are made up SA, NZer, Aussies and the english. Toulon is like a world 15 just watching the players in the team including the Argentinian captain. Pretty unfair against a team like Munster who have only a handful of players from the SH including our kiwi coach Rob Penny. -is the European cup the same as HC? -why is the final held in Cardiff. Would be unimaginable in Super rugby but I guess travel isnt an issue for these teams -
RobC
Roar Guru
Thought the ref did a great job. For scrums he had front row pack in real close. He also engaged them to commit them into a proper engagement. Others should emulate this. Would have been even better if they had a ref on the other side. Im looking forward to seeing how the two ref systems starts in SA.
Hopperdoggy
Guest
Right now I'd define success as reading an informative, fact based opinion about the rugby game advertised in the headline How much further will I have to scroll?
Firstxv
Guest
good idea, we should watch some rugby with a whole bunch of oz, nz and SA players and coaches in it....oh...hang on....
Common Sense
Guest
The stormers are really suffering from the lack of support runners running good support lines. There are players supporting but they are nowhere near the ball carrier when they need to offload, it then makes the support runners redundant. They could have really benefited from Carlos Spencer's back play, they should have hired him when they had the chance.
Common Sense
Guest
Jeez, that stormers hooker is bloody quick!
Common Sense
Guest
You just told me I was wrong then you go ahead and use my answer...
Common Sense
Guest
I heard It was chook fowlers doing that made the force better this year.
Common Sense
Guest
Are the 'six nations cubs' not in the northern hemisphere?
Common Sense
Guest
The stormers v cheetahs game looks close, has it been a good game?
Armchair sportsfan
Guest
not "NH clubs" Tane....but "six nations clubs"...there's other clubs in the NH that arent in the HC.... more than little ironic that i had to point this out to you:)
Crazy Horse
Guest
The Force had no trial games against S15 teams. So those two games you talk about were wffectively their trials. It wasn't until the second half of the second game (v the Brumbies) when they finally got their combinations right. Since then they haven't looked back.
The Moondawwg
Roar Rookie
Read this comment at 11:39 in Korea... Game starts 11:40..... MIssus gone to bed and no super 15... So big thanks for the info.... Have been wanting to watch some more rugby outside our comp.
Urthor
Guest
Under the right rib, angle it up sharply...
mick
Guest
Johnno came to this conclusion in a similar way to yourself Chris, by reading bias articles found through google search. It's easy to form opinions without being there and through wiki or Wayne. Probably also one of those that thought Macqueen coaching the rebels meant theyd win the comp in their first year...all these comments from so called experts who were riding trikes at the time, stick to the current and what you know! Sinderberry and JON were one and the same and I blame a lot on JON for our current position, Sinderberry would have possibly been better but still greedy and delusional. I actually think Bill is doing an ok job right now in a very tough situation, however he should have topped up Mowen, Palu cant even last half a game and Higgers is just awful this year despite what Scotty Allens stats may say.
Shouts Chen
Guest
I hope that the Force will have a chance of playing finals.
DJW
Roar Rookie
Great win by the Force, Arrived home soaking wet from the game but don't care after that win!
Tane Mahuta
Guest
I once had a spotty lemon... Thats all.
Tane Mahuta
Guest
All right, all right, break it up.
Johnno
Guest
A Lemon never changes it's spots Brett just ask Geoff, but opinions do just ask David Lord. Oh and the backflip ARU feelings toward Quade toxic environment Cooper, Wallaby vice-captain now.