Force too good for Dragons

The Western Force ended their Super Rugby pre-season campaign on a high note, with winger Luke Morahan bagging a try double as they downed the Asia Pacific Dragons 34-26.

The Force outscored the invitational side 24-5 before half time, before holding on through three second-half Dragons tries to walk away victors at Perth’s McGillivray Oval on Saturday.

Morahan, 25, put on a strong attacking display in front of the home crowd while Angus Cottrell, Matt Hodgson, Dane Haylett-Petty and Solomoni (Junior) Rasolea also scored five-pointers to secure the Force’s second pre-season victory in as many games.

Despite the win, Western Force head coach Michael Foley said improvement was needed before the first round clash with the Melbourne Rebels.

“In that game today you could see some of the positives, the way we used the ball at times was good,” Foley said.

“Early on maul got penalised, and then we adapted but in the end we didn’t get the payout of that, so we’ve got a bit of work to do there.”

Looking ahead, Foley said there would be an increased focus on their defensive game.

“There’s got to be a focus on what we’re doing, and I think critically for me it’s being able to invest a lot of energy in the defence and getting the ball back quickly, so that we can actually attack with it,” he said.