Fourteen-man Force stun Waratahs
MATCH REPORT: The Western Force have heaped more misery on the NSW Waratahs with a hoodoo-busting 20-16 Super Rugby AU victory in Sydney.
The Force rallied from 0-13 down to record their first Super Rugby win since beating the lowly Sunwolves in Tokyo in May, 2016.
But while the Perth franchise can celebrate, the Waratahs’ third straight defeat – after opening 2021 with record losses to the Brumbies and Queensland Reds – will only intensify the pressure on embattled coach Rob Penney.
Penney said after last week’s 10-61 capitulation to the Brumbies that he’d happily walk if he was no longer deemed the man to take the Waratahs forward.
Now the affable New Zealander could be a dead man walking after his Baby Tahs blew a handy advantage at Bankwest Stadium on Friday.
Penney declared his charges “broken” after last week’s surrender to the Brumbies.
But the Waratahs certainly weren’t lacking belief early on against the Force, opting for a lineout over three gift points from a penalty in front of the posts.
And they were rewarded with a try to hooker David Porecki from a driving maul in just the fifth minute.
Will Harrison’s successful conversion and penalty goals in the 14th and 24th minutes had the Tahs 13-0 to the good.
But the Force reduced the deficit to three points by halftime through a nice try to lock Fergus Lee Warner from a Tim Anstee break, followed by a Jake McIntyre penalty three minutes before the interval.
Anstee did it all himself to put the Force ahead, the blindside flanker sweeping around the back of a lineout and beating three defenders to charge over in the 54th minute.
There was no way back for the Waratahs.
And one fleeting play from winger James Ramm summed up the Tahs’ exasperating start to the season.
After brilliantly reeling in a midfield bomb, Ramm appeared certain to score to put the Waratahs back in front only for the ball to somehow fly free from his arm with not another player in sight.
Not even the Force being reduced to 14 men for the final quarter of an hour, after replacement forward Andrew Ready was red-carded for punching Hugh Sinclair in the face, could save the Waratahs.
There were other flashes of brilliance, mostly from Ramm and fullback Mark Nawaqanitawase, but far too many bumbling plays once again brought the Waratahs unstuck.
And the latest slip-up leaves Penney squarely under the gun.
The scorers:
For Waratahs:
Try: Porecki
Con: Harrison
Pens: Harrison 3
For Western Force
Tries: Lee-Warner, Anstee
Cons: McIntyre 2
Pens: McIntyre 2
Red card: Andrew Ready (Western Force, 64 – Punch to the head)
Teams
Waratahs: 15 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Alex Newsome (captain), 12 Tepai Moeroa, 11 James Ramm, 10 Will Harrison, 9 Jack Grant, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Lachlan Swinton, 5 Hugh Sinclair, 4 Sam Caird, 3 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 2 David Porecki, 1 Te Tera Faulkner.
Replacements: 16 Tom Horton, 17 Sio Tatola, 18 Chris Talakai, 19 Jack Whetton, 20 Jeremy Williams, 21 Henry Robertson, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Triston Reilly.
Western Force: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Tevita Kuridrani. 12 Richard Kahui, 11 Toni Pulu, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Brynard Stander (captain), 7 Kane Koteka, 6 Tom Anstee, 5 Fergus Lee-Warner, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Feleti Kaitu’u, 1 Tom Robertson.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Ready, 17 Angus Wagner, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Ryan McCauley, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Domingo Miotti, 23 Marcel Brache.
Referee: Nic Berry
Assistant referees: Amy Perrett & Jordan Way
TMO: Brett Cronan
