FORCE FINISHES SEASON WITH VICTORY OVER REBELS
The Western Force has finished its 2015 Asteron Life Super Rugby season with a 13-11 victory over the Melbourne Rebels at AAMI Park tonight.
In a farewell to club stalwarts Sam Wykes and Patrick Dellit, the Force built the victory on the back of a tough and tenacious defensive effort, and held a slim 6-3 half-time lead following a try-less first half.
While the two sides swapped five-pointers in the second term – to wingers Luke Morahan and Telusa Veainu – it was Zack Holmes’ conversion from out wide, in an unblemished goal-kicking display, that ultimately proved the difference.
The Force’s try against the run of play, when amidst sustained pressure from the Rebels inside the Force’s quarter, Marcel Brache raced out of the line to intercept a pass and put speedster Morahan away to score.
The Western Australian club finishes the season with three wins, two against reigning champions, the NSW Waratahs, and tonight’s victory over the Reblels.
| WHAT THEY SAID… | Michael Foley, Western Force Head Coach |
| “It was a lot of guts shown by the team. The Rebels have had a season similar to what we had last year and they were on a roll. They had some very good wins here and coming into the game you’re well aware that they’re trying to make their home a fortress. It was an important game for them with Scotty [Higginbotham] finishing up and having been such an instrumental player for them over the last couple of years and I’m just incredibly proud of our guys. It’s been a tough year on the back of what was a good year last year. Fighting to the end and coming up with the win was very important to us.” | |
| 2015 Asteron Life Super Rugby – Week 18 | ||
| Friday, 12 June 2015 at AAMI Park, Melbourne | Kick-off: 7.40pm (local)/5.40pm (AWST) | Crowd: 9,653 |
| Western Force 13 (Luke Morahan try; Zack Holmes 1/1 conversion, 2/2 penalty goals) defeated Melbourne Rebels 11 (Telusa Veainu try; Mike Harris 0/1 conversion, 2/4 penalty goals, 0/1 drop goals)
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| Half time: Western Force 6-3 | ||
| Yellow Cards: Nil | ||
| Red Cards: Nil | ||
| Referee: Andrew Lees | ||
| WESTERN FORCE |
| Western Force: 1. Chris Heiberg, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Tetera Faulkner, 4. Sam Wykes, 5. Steve Mafi, 6. Chris Alcock, 7. Matt Hodgson (c), 8. Angus Cottrell, 9. Alby Mathewson, 10. Zack Holmes, 11. Nick Cummins, 12. Kyle Godwin, 13. Marcel Brache, 14. Luke Morahan, 15. Dane Haylett-Petty.
Reserves: 16. Heath Tessmann, 17. Oliver Hoskins, 18. Guy Millar, 19. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20. Brynard Stander, 21. Ryan Louwrens, 22. Luke Burton, 23. Patrick Dellit.
Head Coach: Michael Foley |
| MELBOURNE REBELS |
| Melbourne Rebels: 1. Toby Smith, 2. Pat Leafa, 3. Paul Alo-Emile, 4. Luke Jones, 5. Lopeti Timani, 6. Sean McMahon, 7. Colby Fainga’a, 8. Scott Higginbotham, 9. Nic Stirzaker, 10. Jack Debreczeni, 11. Cam Crawford, 12. Mitch Inman, 13. Tom English, 14. Bryce Hegarty, 15. Mike Harris.
Reserves: 16. Tom Sexton, 17. Cruze Ah-Nau, 18. Tim Metcher, 19. Sam Jeffries, 20. Scott Fuglistaller, 21. Jordy Reid, 22. Ben Meehan, 23. Telusa Veainu.
Head Coach: Tony McGahan |
| BY THE CLOCK | ||
| Min | Score | |
| 2 | Colby Faingaa is penalised for not releasing the player. Zack Holmes kicks the penalty goal. | 0-3 |
| 15 | Matt Hodgson is penalised for not rolling away at the ruck. Mike Harris opens the scoring for the home side. | 3-3 |
| 18 | Faingaa is penalised for playing the ball off his feet. Holmes adds his second penalty. | 3-6 |
| 27 | Flanker Angus Cottrell is caught for not joining the maul correctly. Harris pushes the penalty attempt to the right. | 3-6 |
| 31 | Cam Crawford bursts onto an inside ball from a scrum inside his own half. From the next phase, Crawford is again into the action to cross adjacent to the posts. However, TMO Peter Marshall denies the try, ruling that Tom English has impeded Kyle Godwin in the lead-up to the try. | 3-6 |
| HALF TIME | 3-6 | |
| 51 | After having all the early running of the second half, the Rebels draw a penalty inside the Force quarter when Tetera Faulkner is ruled to have intentionally wheeled the scrum. Harris kicks the penalty. | 6-6 |
| 63 | The Force scrum is penalised for collapsing. Harris slips during his approach to the penalty attempt, pushing it to the right. | 6-6 |
| 66 | Following a sustained build-up by the Rebels, Marcel Brache intercepts the ball inside his 22m and links with Luke Morahan, who races away to score. Holmes converts from out wide. | 6-13 |
| 71 | From a lineout on the 22m line, Crawford comes into the line off his blind wing to creates the overlap and allow Telusa Veainu to slide over in the corner. Harris misses the conversion attempt from the sideline. | 11-13 |
| 79 | Harris pushes a last-ditch drop goal attempt to the right of the posts. | 11-13 |
| FULL TIME | 11-13 | |
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