FORCE CLAIMS CLUB RECORDS WITH LIONS WIN
The Western Force has climbed back into the Asteron Life Super Rugby top six with a 29-19 bonus point win over the Lions at the ‘Force Field’ (nib Stadium) this evening.
Tonight’s result sealed a record fifth consecutive home victory for the club and contributed to the eighth victory for the season – surpassing the previous club record of seven wins in a season registered in 2008.
The four-try bonus point was sealed by captain Matt Hodgson’s second try for the night – the second time he has crossed for two tries in a match in 2014 – and contributed to his second Haigh & Hastings Man of the Match for the season.
Head Coach Michael Foley said registering the record eighth win satisfied one of the team’s goals for the season with the focus now on further exceeding that mark.
“I’m very, very proud,” he said. “I thought the guys were very good tonight. Some of the rugby we played was some of the best we’ve played in the last couple of weeks.
“Responding to last week was important, it’s always a challenge coming home from South Africa, and I thought we played some pretty good rugby; we didn’t always finish it off but we stuck at it and to get the bonus point at the end was great.
“The guys stuck at their work well. The Lions kept coming and they defended well. We’ve been in that position ourselves and having a side defend like that against us was credit to them.”
In early driving rain, goal-kicking became the preferred method of scoring with Lions flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff slotting three penalty goals to Sias Ebersohn’s one to give the Lions a 9-3 lead at the 27-minute mark.
When Lions prop Corne Fourie received a yellow card late in the half for an illegal clean-out on Nathan Charles, the Force took advantage with Hodgson burrowing over from close range for his side’s first of the night.
Two minutes later the home side appeared to be on the scoreboard again when Nick Cummins powered through from an Ian Prior short ball, to put Ebersohn across the line, only to be judged to be held up by TMO Peter Marshall.
The Western Australians did not have to wait long to score again in earnest when fullback Jayden Hayward crossed in the corner from the ensuing scrum for a 15-9 half-time lead.
The Force’s point-scoring appeared to continue soon after the break when Cummins brought the crowd to their feet in crossing in the corner, with Marshall denying the five-pointer for an obstruction off the ball.
While repelled on countless occasions by a desperate Lions defence, the Force added another Ebersohn penalty goal before replacement flyhalf Zack Holmes sliced through a half gap, with Marshall again called upon to rule the zippy playmaker had been held up.
However, the next passage of play yielded the desired result for the Force when outside centre Chris Tuatara-Morrison switched with Luke Burton off a set move from the scrum to cross for his maiden Asteron-Life Super Rugby try, with Hayward’s conversion extending the lead to 22-12.
The Lions clawed back the deficit when replacement Elton Jantjies collected a misdirected Cummins kick to score, before Hodgson tunnelled over for his second with just one minute remaining to seal the 10-point win.
The Force will travel to New Zealand next week to take on the Crusaders at Christchurch’s Addington Stadium on Friday (30 May).
2014 Asteron Life Super Rugby – Week 15
Saturday, 24 May 2014 at The ‘Force Field (nib Stadium), Perth
Kick-off: 5.40pm
Western Force 29 (Matt Hodgson 2; Jayden Hayward, Chris Tuatara-Morrison tries; Jayden Hayward 2/2 conversions, Sias Ebersohn 1/2 conversions, 1/3 penalties) defeated Lions 19 (Elton Jantjies try; Marnitz Boshoff 1/1 conversion, 3/4 penalty goals, 0/1 drop goal)
Western Force:
1. Pek Cowan, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Kieran Longbottom, 4. Sam Wykes, 5. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 6. Angus Cottrell, 7. Matt Hodgson (c), 8. Ben McCalman, 9. Ian Prior, 10. Sias Ebersohn, 11. Nick Cummins, 12. Luke Burton, 13. Chris Tuatara-Morrison, 14. Dane Haylett-Petty, 15. Jayden Hayward. Res: 16. Heath Tessmann, 17. Francois van Wyk, 18. Oliver Hoskins, 19. Adam Coleman, 20. Brynard Stander, 21. Justin Turner, 22. Zack Holmes, 23. Patrick Dellit.
Coach: Michael Foley
Bulls:
1. Corne Fourie, 2. Armand van der Merwe, 3. Ruan Dreyer, 4. Rudi Mathee, 5. Franco Mostert, 6. Jaco Kriel, 7. Warwick Tecklenburg, 8. Warren Whiteley (c), 9. Ross Cronje, 10. Marnitz Boshoff, 11. Antony Volmink, 12. Alwyn Hollenbach, 13. Deon van Rensburg, 14. JW Jonker, 15. Coenie van Wyk. Res: 16. Robbie Coetzee, 17. Jacques van Rooyen, 18. Julian Redelinghuys, 19. Willie Britz, 20. Stephan de Wit, 21. Faf de Klerk, 22. Elton Jantjies, 23. Stefan Watermeyer.
Coach: Johan Ackerman
Yellow Cards: Corne Fourie (35 min)
Red Cards: Nil
Referee: Steve Walsh
Crowd: 11,587
