Western Force determined to finish strong against Western Province XV
SPOTLIGHT: Western Force captain Reed Prinsep is determined to make up for his side’s loss to Emerging Ireland in their final fixture against Western Province XV in Stellenbosch on Saturday.
The Force fell short by 29-24 against Emerging Ireland in their final Cheetahs Challenge match in Bloemfontein on Saturday after dispatching the hosts the Wednesday before by 38-23.
They will embark their journey to Stellenbosch for their final match against a Western Province XV on Saturday.
Captain Prinsep was buoyed by his side’s fighting spirit against Emerging Ireland where the Western Australia side came back from a 0-19 deficit to come within striking distance of a victory.
The Force’s ill discipline didn’t help their cause – conceding numerous penalties and two yellow cards, while their defence was stretched at times by the dynamic Irish outfit.
“We’ve still got one to go,” Prinsep said.
“We’ll go down to Stellenbosch and play Western Province. One more opportunity to right some wrongs from today and keep showing that effort that we’re doing.”
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The Force showed great fight to respond after conceding three tries in the opening quarter of the match, utilising a drinks break at the 20-minute mark due to the warm conditions.
“We talked about it at the 20-minute mark and at half-time about giving that little bit more, that one or two percent more,” the former Hurricanes loose forward said.
“We thought we started a little bit off. Once we talked about that extra little bit, one or two percent, I felt we got some good gains from that.”
The 31-year-old who has 10 Mãori All Blacks caps to his name added that he was proud of his side’s fight to stay in the contest.
“It’s certainly something I’m very proud of. We went up against a high-quality international team. We stayed in the fight.
“We put them under pressure through multiple phases of that game. Credit to them, they got the job done.”
