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Six tries for victorious Force

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 06:39

Star performer: David Pocock

The Western Force managed to make it two Super 14 wins in a row with a 41-27 victory over the Highlanders in Queenstown.

Both sides would like to be higher on the Super 14 table and the lead changed hands on numerous occasions before the Force ran away with the victory in the last ten minutes.

The sun shone in beautiful Queenstown with its mountains and the rural feel of the Events Centre with spectators on grass banks. Playing Super rugby in sunshine is a rare treat for New Zealanders and at one stage it looked as if they were making hay while the sun shone - till the last 11 minutes, that is.

Look at the final score and it looks comfortable for the visiting Western Force but it was those 11 minutes which made the 80 look comfortable. They scored 21 points in those 11 minutes. Add in Fetu'u Vainikolo's remarkable try in injury time and the last 11 minutes had thrills  and points enough for a whole match.

The Western Force were in charge of most of the match but the Highlanders scored the early points. In fact teams were most vulnerable after they scored as they found receiving kick-offs difficult.

Both sides started running but the Western Force had the best chance to score when they had a five-metre scrum but handling went astray. And when Pocock was soon after penalised at a tackle, Berquist goaled. 3-0 after 9 minutes.

Then there was another chance for the home side as the Highlanders took a quick throw-in from touch and Mat Berquist went racing down the left. He gave to Vainikolo who managed to keep running till as he was plunging for the line David Pocock sailed into the sturdy wing who lost the ball.

There was some silly stuff in the game, which resulted in three yellow cards in the first half.

One silly incident - not carded - saw Chris O'Young throw the ball away at a penalty and concede 10 metres which was enough for Berquist to kick a long goal. 6-0 after 19 minutes.

Just after this Highlanders captain became the fist to spend time in a sin bin when, sitting on the ground at a the back of a tackle/ruck, he interfered with O'Young.  While he was away the Western Force took the lead. The Highlanders were penalised and the Western Force opted for an attacking scrum.  They went right, O'Young did a scissors with Cameron Shepherd who burst ahead and tackled, managed to stretch over for a try under the posts. 7-6 to the Western Force. Those were the only points scored in Cowan's absence.

The Western Force attacked again but were held up and then Pek Cowan and Clint Newland threw punches in each other's direction and also went to the sin bin.

The Western Force were close again when Matt Hodgson charged down Robbie Robinson's kick, scrambled after the ball and patted it back to hooker Ben Whitaker who went over as Robinson and Jason Rutledge tackled him. The TMO was able to confirm eventually that Whitaker had knocked on.

On half-time Cowan was penalised at a tackle and O'Connor gave the Western Force a 10-6 lead.

Hodgson was penalised at the start of the second half and Berquist goaled. Then Shoemark raced down the left and grubbered ahead but O'Connor saved.

The Highlanders turned a penalty into a five-metre line-out. They mauled. Cowan was close and then Steven Setephano till eventually the TMO was able to advise that Chris King had celebrated his 50th Super rugby match with a  try. Berquist missed the easy conversion. 14-10 to the Highlanders after 44 minutes.

From the kick-off Newland was penalised for gross obstruction and the Western Force had an attacking line-out. The Highlanders repulsed them but then David Hill darted down the left and grubbered to wards the corner on his left. O'Connor juggled and then grabbed the high-bouncing ball and dotted down just in from touch-in-goal. 15-14 after 48 minutes.

The Highlanders won the ball from the kick-off  and went wide to the left where Vainikolo got an inside pass to Setephano who burst over for the try. 19-15 to the Highlanders after 50 minutes.

Ben Smith had a strong run out of his own 22 and then Shoemark broke and was close but it was the Western Force who scored  when they went calmly through many phases  till Ryan Cross forced his way through Berquist to score. 20-19 to the Western Force which changed to 22-20 to the Highlanders when Nathan Sharpe was penalised at a tackle.

Then came the drama of the last 11 minutes.

From a line-out replacement centre Sam Harris broke clean through. He gave to Pocock who raced ahead and then, losing momentum, turned and pooped the pass to replacement scrumhalf Richard Turner who scored under the posts. 27-20 to the Western Force.

A great tackle by Matt Dunning on Rutledge dislodged the balk and produced a scrum for the Western Force. Richard Brown picked up at the base and gave to Turner going right. Turner  held up the ball and flicked it to Cross racing straight ahead and the centre was over under the bar. 34-22 with five minutes to play.

Harris broke again and then Hill Broke clean through and, with a choice of players to pass to, chose Shepherd who scored his second try. 41-2 with two minutes to play./

The Highlanders attacked on the fair right with Ben Smith racing ahead and then went far left where Vainikolo scored a remarkable try as Hodgson tackled him.

Somehow Vainikolo avoided the touch-line in his left and then as Hodgson tackled him he was up off his feet, knocking the cornerpost and then, in suspended animation, managed to reach down and ground the ball a millimetre or two from touch-in-goal before his feet came to earth.

It was a try that would not have been possible till recent law changes which removed the cornerpost as an obstacle to scoring.

Man of the Match: James O'Connor. His goalkicking might not have been always at his best but his play in defence and attack was - his handling, his strength, his clever feet, his acceleration. He is a special talent.

The scorers:

For the Highlanders:
Tries: King, Setephano, Vainikolo
Pens: Berquist 4

For the Western Force:
Tries: Shepherd 2, O'Connor, Cross 2, Turner
Cons: O'Connor 4
Pens: O'Connor

The teams:

Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith, 14 James Paterson, 13 Kenny Lynn, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 10 Mat Berquist, 9 Jimmy Cowan (captain), 8 Steven Setephano, 7 Alando Soakai, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 Clint Newland, 2 Jason Rutledge, 1 Chris King.
Replacements: 16 Jason Macdonald, 17 Bronson Murray, 18 Joe Tuineau, 19 Tim Boys, 20 Sean Romans, 21 Robbie Robinson, 22 Jayden Hayward.

Western Force: 15 James O’Connor, 14 Cameron Shepherd, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Ryan Cross, 11 Mark Bartholomeusz, 10 David Hill, 9 Chris O’Young, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Tom Hockings, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 2 Ben Whittaker, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Ben McCalman, 19 Sam Wykes, 20 Justin Turner, 21 Sam Harris, 22 Dane Haylett-Petty.

Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Keith Brown, Josh Noonan
TMO: James McPhail

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