Force win again in World Series Rugby

I'm not. I was looking forward to the rematch down in Bunbury on Friday night, and sorted out a weekend down in Margaret River based around that. Now I'm just having a random weekend drinking wine, but missing the rugby (and, hopefully, the bl**dy Royal wedding!) ETA: Oh, go on, moderate my comment. I didn't even swear, I replaced the 'o's with '*'s myself!

Lachie Reid tried to fight me one night pished at the Flying Scotsman - true story Gossage and Reid commentated on some of the Force's very first matches - the criticism of them from SA and NZ was hilarious (and deserved).

As I said previously the Aussie super sides would belt this force outfit! What are you basing that on exactly? They've collectively looked like a lolly scramble at a mental hospital this year

The Rebels and Saders will play the Force and then we will see how far we are off the pace, if at all. I always argue that the margins in professional rugby is thin. The thise that argue that they will play without their test players just remember that the Chiefs are playing this weekend without 20 of their top players and none of you hypocrites argue that it is not a real Chief's side.

Depends on what you are looking. If you want to watch top rugby whatch the AB play the Lions. It is the same as watching a Test between the top cricket nations. However if you like to be entertained for a couple of good family nights the BBL is perfect and so is WSR. Superugby is neither entertaining nor top rugby.

Fox sports have lost their motivation to rubbish it now that they have broadcasting rights. I suspect they were worried that it would be FTA only and they wouldn't get any of the pie. It is all about Money to them.

Good Question. Probably, they have already tried to squash some rule changes, broadcast deals and match scheduling and demanded payment. They have applied resistance at every turn I think that with the recent popularity in WA they will need to tread carefully. IPRC could overtake SR and make RA irreverent. A smart CEO would jump on board and try to take credit for any success it has, not have the by-line: IRPC succeeds in spite of RA sabotage attempts.

Looking forward to the rematch on Friday (7:00 PM at Curtin University).

I wished the used their strike weapon Hodder better. She never had space as the inside players hogged the ball until the space closed instead of distributing early. They can get much better.

ScottD, absolutely spot-on. This is all about the survival of rugby union in WA after the self inflicted would RA gave WA Rugby last year. The next decade will decide if our children and grandchildren will grow up with the possibility to play professional rugby union or not. Those that continue to devalue the efforts that Twiggy and the WA rugby supporters are putting in to rescue the game I WA should have a good look at themselves! Would you can efforts by any other remote rugby community to grow the game in their area? I am especially glad to see that the tone of reporting have changed, and that roar journalists are starting to report positively about WA Rugby. Even Foxsport had an article yesterday that suggested it was a mistake to drop the Force. https://www.foxsports.com.au/video/rugby/rugby/force-thrill-in-win-vs-tonga!679466 The benefits of axing the Force continues to evaporate and it became clear that the Force became the scapegoat for the failures of Rugby Australia in the past decade. It is already clear that lack of competitiveness of Australian franchises cannot be attributed to the Western Force and that commercial failures and lack of support for a Melbourne based team is also independent of the existence of the Western Force. None of the benefits from axing the Force realised yet, while the damage to WA Rugby is real. At least Twiggy stepped in to stem the tide with a series made-up exhibition games. I have hope that WA Rugby will recover although we were put back by at least 5-10 years. The Force was always part of the solution, it was not the problem.

Will RU block another Australian team joining the IPRC?

Perhaps the Tongan coach didn't turn up because he doesn't coach Tonga A? Cheika doesn't coach the Australian U20s, does he? Nor does he turn up to every game they play. And considering some of the play of the Australian SR sides this year, I wouldn't guarantee that they'd belt this Force side, even though the Force are still learning their combinations. It'll be interesting to see what side the Force/Spirit put out in the NRC - by then they should be able to field tried and tested combinations of professionals with months of preparation against semi-pros with only weeks of preparation themselves.

The force look great, well coached they would beat the Brumbies easily.

Agree that we are in honeymoon period. When it rains 50% won't turn up. However the crowd interest is critical as when kids go to the rugby like they are now rugby will continue to grow. The WSR is about rugby survival not anything else. So far so good but still to be determined whether WSR is a success or not. But I reckon we will upok back in 12 weeks and give it the thumbs up.

I didn't say it was right, just trying to point out that Fox killed Australian SR. Affordable tickets and a good spectacle fills stadiums and grows fan bases. I went to a Highlanders game last year that was 8 degrees , Wet and miserable. Crowd was down around the6-7k mark. And before you pile on, I know it gets colder and wetter in NZ and Melbourne and Canberra,

Feel free to hate on it. The rest of us 20,000+ supporters think it is great. The series would have been bigger but your ARU blocked the IRPC at every turn.

If the spine of the Tongans were World Cup PNC then why didn't their coach turn up if there was any importance on the game for the selection criteria. The rugby itself is low (fitness of two visiting sides was low)but agree the hype around the game is great which pressures RA to stay on their toes. RA's scullduggery and RugbyWA's incompetence dudded rugby in the West! As I said previously the Aussie super sides would belt this force outfit!

They only throw the ball around because there is nothing on the game! Exhibition trial games st best. I agree looks like entertainment surroundeding the game is good value something superbrugby could learn from. But the rugby itself is not high quality physically or skill wise.

Currently working in Burkina Faso. I am Big Kev excited to be able to go to the.next.2.games with my mates. No more boring Super Rugby!

As has been said several times, Andrew Forrest was sponsoring the Force Academy, and expecting the ARU to honour the spirit of the agreement they'd just signed with the Force. As to the standard of the sides the Force have faced - the Fiji A side will play in the Pacific Nations Cup in June and contained a few players who Fiji expect to be at the World Cup next year; the Tonga A side may have been supplemented by young club players, but the spine of that team are also going to the PNC (as are Samoa and Georgia!) And remember that the Force are a bit of a barbarian team themselves - some players have been in Perth for a while, but many are still turning up! You can only play what's in front of you, and while the Force's skills have been a little rusty, they are essentially 2 matches into pre-season rather than 3 months into Super Rugby, yet they've shown more ambition than many of the Australian SR teams.