Force prevail in Perth spectacle
Sat, 03 May 2008 13:52
Cross defence: Ryan Cross tackles Chiefs wing Sitiveni Sivivatu
Matt Giteau landed a last-gasp penalty to help the Western Force to a nail-biting 22-21 victory after an epic Super 14 battle against the Chiefs in Perth.
The game was a true spectacle, and left players and spectators breathless at times in the second half.
But some poor goal-kicking from the usually reliable Stephen Donald leaked points from the Chiefs, and they could not hang on at the death as the Force kept their very slim chances of a play-off berth alive.
The Chiefs had a reasonable chance of making the semifinals, if they could continue their great run of form. But it has to be said that they are notoriously bad travellers, and of course their last three matches are all on the road.
The Force were surprisingly the team who came out all guns blazing.
It was surprising because one would expect the Chiefs, who have it all to play for, to have been the better motivated team. On the contrary, the semifinal-chasing New Zealanders took ages to get going, and they spent large parts of the first period trying to snuff out Force attacks all over the park.
It was the home team who banished their scoreless streak of the past two matches with two visits behind the Chiefs poles inside the first twelve minutes.
First it was eighthman Matt Hodgson who charged down a Jamie Nutbrown clearance from a ruck deep inside the Chiefs 22. The ball popped up perfectly for Hodgson, who simply had to catch the dropping ball and fall over to score near the corner.
He did just that, and flyhalf Matt Giteau, back from a couple weeks off with concussion, slotted a beautiful kick to add the extra two points.
The Chiefs managed to get their scoreboard ticking with a penalty from Stephen Donald on eight minutes.
But they were under pressure again very soon after, when Wallaby wing Drew Mitchell took on three defenders, and still managed to find the leg-drive to barge his way over in the same corner where Hodgson dotted down minutes earlier.
Giteau replicated the conversion attempt from almost the exact spot, and suddenly the score was 14-3 to the home side, after 12 minutes.
The week-long break from the bye had obviously done the force a world of good.
The Chiefs tried to get back into the thick of things, but they were clearly rattled by the Force's intensive start, and it showed when Stephen Donald missed two fairly easy penalty attempts within in the space of ten minutes.
Again the Force were back on the front foot, but the Chiefs survived another hairy period, with Mitchell and Shepherd prominent in attack.
The game mauled on for a time, while the Chiefs were frantically trying to create a foothold in this clash.
They were really struggling to get their hands on the ball, and it seemed that the Force were enjoying all the good possession.
The Chiefs did get near the Force try-line at the close of the half, but this time it was the Force who survived the onslaught on their line, repelling a few pick-and-drive moves from the visitors.
Eventually the Force did manage the turnover, and cleared to touch as the siren sounded. Half-time broke, and the teams went into their changing rooms with the score at 14-3 to the Force.
The second half started in a more positive fashion for the Chiefs. A kicking duel between Mitchell and Muliaina ended with the Chiefs getting the ball in some space. The dangerous Sitiveni Sivivatu got hold of it, and fed the ball out to Lelia Masaga who raced around the Force defenders to score the first try of the night for the Chiefs, and get them back into the game.
Donald's yips with the boot continued, as he missed his third relatively easy kick in a row, and the score remained 14-8.
The game was entering a crucial phase. The Force knew they had the upper hand thus far, but the Chiefs knew that a loss for them would spell the end of their playoff chances.
It was time for attrition.
The Force had another chance for three points, but this time Giteau missed. Suddenly the ball did not want to go between the uprights.
The game seemed to be drifting, until the Force went through six phases in Chiefs territory. The ball came out to Drew Mitchell, who stepped and took the standing tackle. Once again the wing showed some real power, as he drove towards five, six, seven metres to the line with Chiefs defenders hanging off him like Christmas decorations.
But the Chiefs stopped him a metre short of the line, and Mils Muliaina stole the ball and started a counter attack.
That didn't go far, seeing that most of the Chiefs front row were lined up on the wing.
The Force got the ball back, and this time they made their possession count. Scrumhalf James Stannard broke around the blindside of the ruck, and scored unopposed.
Giteau again failed with the conversion, but the game had suddenly sprung back into life.
More proof of that followed, as the Chiefs came right back with a try of their own. Once again it was Masaga who put his hand up for man of the match, waltzing past a few Force defenders to drive the Chiefs closer to the line. Stephen Donald got ball in acres of space as the home defence were sucked into the ruck, and he jogged under the posts to score. The pivot couldn't miss this time, and added the two points, to make it 19-15 in the 65th minute.
There was still all to play for the Chiefs.
Donald had yet another chance for a penalty on 69 minutes, and finally succeeded in guiding it through the posts. 19-18 with ten minutes to go.
The two or three minutes of action that followed after that, is difficult to put into words. It was a period of unbroken play that was pure helter skelter action, with the ball being thrown around the park with gay abandon, as both teams departed from structure and shape, and just started playing Sevens-style rugby.
The gist of it was that the Chiefs came within a whisker of scoring, but in the dive for the line, David Pocock slapped the ball out of the arms of the arms of Liam Messam to save the try. The Force then ran the turnover, and Mitchell nearly got free on the left. It was mad, it was rushed and it was frantic. It was fantastic action.
The players were clearly dead on their feet after that, and many players actually sat or lay down on the ground.
But more drama was to follow. The Chiefs got their noses in front through a neat drop goal from inside centre Callum Bruce, and suddenly the Chiefs were ahead 21-19 with three minutes to go.
Into the final straight, and the teams were slugging it out like two desperate heavyweight boxers, trying to land the knock-out punch in the final seconds.
It was the Force who got their hands on the ball, and had only one thing in mind - to cross that Chiefs try-line. The ball was flung around, and the Chiefs defended desperately. It reappeared, and there was space wide on the left for the Force.
A poor pass meant that the ball went behind a few players, with the line and the game at the Force's mercy, but Cameron Shepherd leaned back to try and catch the ball. He gathered the low ball, and dived over in the corner for what seemed like a try. The Force seemed to have won this at the death. But referee Marius Jonker called time-out with four seconds to go on the clock. The TMO would decide on this one.
Replays showed that Shepherd knocked the ball on ever so slightly before he dived over, but there was controversy about this call, as that infringement was, according to the TMO procedural guidelines, not strictly within the TMO's jurisdiction. But television match official George Ayoub informed the referee that there was no try, and Jonker concurred.
One last twist of fate awaited in this clash though, as referee Jonker brought play back to the 22 for a previous Chiefs infringement. Penalty to the Force. Matt Giteau would, after all, have a chance to salvage the game for the home side.
The pressure was immense, especially considering the mammoth effort that both teams gave. But Giteau thrives in this environment, and coolly popped over the penalty which condemned the Chiefs to a single-point defeat.
The Force celebrated wildly in the knowledge that they still have a mathematical chance to reach the semifinals.
But the Chiefs knew their play-off chances had suffered a serious blow, and they now have to rely on other teams dropping points if they are to make it beyond Week 14 of the tournament.
Man of the match: There were many candidates, especially amongst the back three of both teams. Lelia Masaga was immense, and his elusive running gives him the nod a short nose ahead of the impressive Drew Mitchell.
Moment of the match: That final Matt Giteau penalty that consigned the Chiefs to defeat, was big match temperament personified.
Villain of the match: Nobody at all. Perhaps Stephen Donald will admit that his wayward boot cost the Chiefs, but one off day at the office doesn't make one a villain.
Scorers:
For the Force:
Tries: Hodgson, Mitchell, Stannard
Cons: Giteau 2
Pen: Giteau
For the Chiefs:
Tries: Masaga, Donald
Con: Donald
Pens: Donald 2
DG: Bruce
Teams:
Western Force: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau (vice-captain), 9 James Stannard, 8 Matt Hodgson, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fava, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 David Pusey, 3 Troy Takiari,
2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Luke Holmes, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Richard Brown, 20 Chris O'Young, 21 Scott Daruda, 22 Dane Haylett-Petty.
Chiefs: 15 Mils Muliaina (captain), 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jamie Nutbrown, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Kevin O'Neill, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Ben May, 2 Tom Willis, 1 Simms Davison.
Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Ben Castle, 18 Jay Williams, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 David Bason, 21 Dwayne Sweeney, 22 Sosene Anesi.
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), D Mitchelmore (Australia)
Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia)
Assessor: Andrew Cole (Australia), Stuart Beissel (New Zealand)
By Phil Coetzer
