News

Force finish on a high

Friday 16th May 2008

Brumbies tamed: Not even a brace by Francis Fainifo could help the visitors' cause

The Western Force came from 22-0 behind behind to beat the Brumbies 29-22 in a hard-fought Super 14 derby encounter at Subiaco Oval in Perth on Friday.

With their backs up against the wall, the hosts put in another "never say die" performance and beat Australian opposition for the first time this season.

The match did not count towards the exciting final countdown to the semi-finals, with both teams having just pride to play for. But for entertainment and drama, the match did not let those who watched it down, with both teams playing an exciting, expansive style of rugby that saw eight tries scored in the match.

It was a gutsy effort from captain Nathan Sharpe and his troops who were all but dead and buried in the first half, but showed tremendous spirit to not only come back and win - but do it in scintillating fashion.

As for the Brumbies, not only do they end their worst Super Rugby season on a low, but they also failed to send departing coach Laurie Fisher's 50th and final game in charge out on a high.

The Brumbies were impressive with the way they maintained possession and strung their passing game together in the first half, but after that, in a manner of speaking, it all went west.

The Brumbies got off to the best possible start with a try inside the second minute of play after fly-half Christian Lealiifano put a neat chip kick ahead for winger Francis Fainifo to collect and score his first Super 14 try.

Fainifo still had a fair bit of work to do when he took the ball in fifteen metres out from the Force tryline and showed great footwork stepping inside two defenders at pace for a well-worked opening five-pointer.

Captain Stirling Mortlock stepped up to add the extras and the Brumbies were in a handy 7-0 lead.

The Brumbies were scoring points faster than the stadium clock took to wind it's way down after Mark Gerrard was over for the simplest of tries in the corner following a majestic pass from flanker George Smith.

The hosts' defence were stretched to the limit and Smith showed great ball skills and vision to put his Wallaby colleague away - all Gerrard had to do was catch and run.

Mortlock was unsuccessful this time round with his trickier conversion attempt, but the Brumbies would have been over the moon with their 12-0 advantage after just six minutes played.

The visitors had to be more patient for their next score, but thirteen minutes later and Fainifo was in for his brace following some good build-up work by forwards and backs alike.

The front row partnership of hooker John Ulugia and Nic Henderson combined well to gain some hard yards before Mortlock came speeding in from the midfield in support.

Halted in his tracks, the Brumbies centre stood his ground long enough to offload the ball to Fainifo who crashed over in the corner. Having not scored a single try in 2008, the New Zealand-born winger really left it late to show his try-scoring ability in the final game of the season.

And he could have bagged a hat-trick had partner in crime Adam Ashley-Cooper not been so greedy in his clear run to the line with Fainifo on his inside.

Again, it was another glorious cut-out pass from Smith that gave Ashley-Cooper the time and the space to turn on his white jet shoes and touch down in the same corner Fainifo had made himself at home.

Mortlock uncharacteristically missed his third miss at goal in a row and while six points were now a-begging, the Brumbies were 22-0 up and had no reason at this stage to worry.

Though, the missed kicks at goal would come back to haunt them later in the match.

But the Force woke up from their slumber ten minutes from the break and started to fire in the line-breaks that extinguished the forward passes and dropped balls made earlier that halted their previous charges.

Finally, the Subiaco crowd had reason to cheer as their team put multiple phases together that got the home side in scoring range for the first time in the half.

They took their chances well, and after a bulldozing run from winger Haig Sare, the Brumbies defence had exposed a hole that was duly filled by teen sensation James O'Connor after taking an inside ball from the more senior Matt Giteau to score.

It was the 17-year-old's first Super 14 try, and was turned into a seven-pointer following Giteau's conversion. Mortlock would have been taking tips from under the poles.

At 7-22, the Force were on the board and into the half-time sheds with a glimmer of hope having cracked the Brumbies white wall of defenders with another 40 minutes of rugby still to be played.

It was vital that the Force score the first points in the second half and they didn't disappoint.

Following a superb backline move that showed class and confidence, O'Connor and Giteau did the business in the middle before unleashing Sare who did well to draw the last man on defence before offloading to centre Josh Tatupu on the wing.

With a good 30 metres to go to the line, Tatupu backed his size and pace for the corner and was rewarded by the TMO for his efforts.

Giteau's conversion hit the upright, but the Force were back in the game with the scoreline at 12-22 in the 46th minute.

Starved of possession, the Brumbies could only watch in horror as their former team-mate Giteau caught his old mates napping - Tyrone Smith must have been sleepwalking - for a solo try finished off with an Olympic dive under the posts.

Giteau's conversion took the scores to 19-22 and the Brumbies were all of a sudden hanging from the ropes.

It looked at that stage that the Force would overrun the Brumbies in the same way that they themselves were overrun in the first half, but with the help of some strong scrumming, the Brumbies managed to prevent the tide against them from becoming too strong.

However, the final KO punch came from scrum-half Chris O'Young after the wily number nine burrowed his way over from close range for the hosts' fourth try bonus-point and his first for the 2008 season.

It came from Mark Gerrard putting his side under immense pressure following his inability to clear his lines and was forced to hang on for dear life after Matt Hodgson hunted him down.

Referee Nathan Pearce - blowing the whistle for the first time this season - awarded a free kick to the Force after Gerrard was blown up for not releasing on his own line.

Giteau took a quick tap and nearly put his skipper Sharpe over for what would have been a deserved touchdown for the hard-working lock. Instead, it was O'Young that took the honours after his momentum carried him through.

Giteau's conversion added to the Force's lead and a penalty following a high tackle by Tyrone Smith on the Wallaby playmaker allowed the hosts to accumulate 22 unanswered points in the second half - an amazing achievement.

Mortlock summed up the match to perfection after the final whistle was blown.

"It was a tale of two halves, and you cannot explain it. We went out with real intent to execute and we certainly did that in the first half," said Mortlock.

"The Force guys sneaked one before half time, got back in the game ... and they were too good in the end."

Force skipper Nathan Sharpe despite the dreadful start, his side still believed they were a chance.

"29 unanswered points against the Brumbies is no mean feat at all - this team can attack when it wants to," said Sharpe.

"It is a credit to the boys to come out after half time and switch that around, there a lot of young guys so to be able to make a transition like that within a game is a bloody big effort."

Man of the match: For the Brumbies, those who didn't seem to suffer from too much jet-lag (blamed for their downfall by the Aussie commentators) were the usual suspects of George Smith, Stirling Mortlock and Mark Gerrard. Francis Fainifo's brace deserves a pat on the back, but his defence let him down at crucial periods. For the Force, Chris O'Young had his best game of the season in the number nine shirt while Josh Tatupu did well to hold his own against Mortlock. In case you've been stranded on a desert island, Matt Giteau is Australia's answer to the number ten jersey - I think we knew this at the start of the season! However, he doesn't get the award though, he's had plenty from us and probably has them pouring out every time he opens his pantry door. Instead, we've opted for the young up-and-coming star in the making that is James O'Connor. We weren't too sure about this unknown teenage prodigy at the start, but after this match-winning performance alongside Giteau - and just like his Irish surname suggests - we wish him all the luck for the bright future ahead. Though we don't think he's going to need it.

Moment of the match: Chris O'Young's try may have put his team in the lead, but it was O'Connor's touchdown on the stroke of half-time that set the wheels in motion on the Western Force's thrilling drive to a memorable victory.

Villain of the match: It was a colourful affair, but neither yellow nor red was the order of the day.

The scorers:

For Force:
Tries: O'Connor, Tatupu, Giteau, O'Young
Cons: Giteau 3
Pens: Giteau

For Brumbies:
Tries: Fainifo 2, Gerrard, Ashley-Cooper
Cons: Mortlock

Western Force: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Josh Tatupu, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Haig Sare, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Chris O'Young, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 4 David Pusey, 3 Troy Takiari, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Luke Holmes, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Sam Wykes, 20 James Stannard, 21 Scott Daruda, 22 Junior Pelesasa.

Brumbies: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Patrick Phibbs, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 7 George Smith, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Alister Campbell, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 John Ulugia, 1 Nic Henderson.
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Salesi Maafu, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 Julian Salvi, 20 Joshua Holmes, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Afusipa Taumoepeau

Referee: Paul Marks (Australia)/Nathan Pearce (Australia)
Touch judges: Ian Smith (Australia), Grant MacNeill (Australia)
Television match official: Geoff Acton (Australia)
Assessor: Scott Young (Australia)